Into The inferno, the path to Rapture
by Ajay46
Summary: Alex is your usual sixteen year-old guy, but when he gets his first pokemon, things heat up fast. Next thing he has an army of spiffy cultists trying to kill him personally, a destiny entwined with that of the world, oh, and he's half pokemon. LEMON!
1. Alpha

I do not own Pokémon. Pokémon is a licensed trademark of Nintendo or something like that so just don't sue me. It's free publicity. Nintendo should be paying me.

Chapter one.

**ALPHA**

α

Because every legend has to begin somewhere…

I am Alex.

4% of the world wants me dead.

95% of the world would want me dead if they knew what I was.

The remaining 1% wants the rest dead.

Where do I stand?

Night. Night is a strange thing. This night was different from the norm. The usual day-to-day, night-to-night rush of passer-by cars and pedestrians ceased. There was no particular reason for this occurrence, they just did. It was a quiet night. Nobody was around, and the figure had all the time she required. A single light flashed on alarmingly, sensing movement approaching. The tiny figure reached the doorstep, stopping quietly. A hood hung over her head, hiding her eyes from view. She had moved in too fast and wasn't noticed by any nosy civilians who would be curious of such a tiny figure, and carrying such a fragile parcel in her arms.

Jarod Black. Explorer. Traveller. Successful treasure hunter, now retired, reclined peacefully in a lazyboy leather seat. His thin locks of brown hair hung down over one eye a little, falling free from their fixed position to their natural sitting. The hair lifted and fluttered back a little as he blew at the locks. Ever since receiving his first Pokémon at ten, Jarod had travelled the world in search of greatness and fame and fortune. Eleven years later, the greatness and fame had yet to come. Fortune was something which found its way to Jarod, as was adventure. If the world knew of all he had discovered and witnessed, he would have been hailed as a legend, but alas-

**_Knock, Knock._**

Jarod reluctantly removed himself from his position, striking the mute button on the remote in his hand before effortlessly tossing it onto the seat behind him.

'Who is it?' His voice was rather rough. He strutted confidently, unopposed in his domicile. He bent over, lining himself up with the little peep-hole in the door. All he could see through the hole was the obscured image of a light depraved tree at the end of his walkway. Through a number of painfully memorable experiences, Jarod knew opening a door in this situation was not a good idea, so he wasn't going to. He gazed through the peep hole for a few last prying seconds, then withdrew and turned away to return to his night.

'_Aaaabbabiibbiggiaaaa!_' Jarod stopped on one foot, balancing precariously as a short high pitched joyful squeal sounded through the door. His head turned cautiously, his dark eyes stared as if willing himself to see through the solid oak. 'Aaaayyibbiaa!' He turned on his heel, pacing rapidly back towards the door his hand slid into the back of his trousers, re-emerging soon clutching a small handgun. Holding the pistol close to his body, pointing at the door, his free hand snapped open a deadbolt and twisted open a lock. He pulled the door open, stepping quickly out; his eyes darted back and forth before spotting something before him. He stepped aside quickly, landing on a bad angle. He collapsed with a loud curse, his shoulder hitting the wooden deck roughly as he winced at the impact.

'What the hell i-' Something warm rubbed against his cheek. Jarod opened his eyes, his teeth unclenched as he saw what it was.

'Iggibigaboooo!' The infant drabbled happily, his chubby hand prodding randomly at Jason as he stared in shock. Jarod sat upright quickly, curiously gazing down at the baby. His eyes were a deep shade of brown, and his hair, what hair he had, seemed a dark ginger brown hue. Tucked inside the collar of his sprightly white baby jumpsuit, was a scrap of paper, torn from somewhere. Jarod reached out unsurely, halting halfway, and picked up the baby. The baby made a little grunt noise as Jarod's hands lifted under his armpits and sat him in his lap.

'What's your name kid?' He asked, picking the scrap of paper from his collar and unfolding it.

'Awiesg!' the baby muttered.

'What? Was that… Alex?' Jarod queried, his head cocking as he unfolded the paper.

'Aaaaaaaa!' The baby cried with a huge grin, clapping his hands a bit.

'All right then Alex…' Jarod held the paper to his eyes, angling it to catch the light above his porch. 'Let's see…'

"_ Jarod. I know that's your name. I remember. I concede to a lapse of common sense myself, and I must ask for your forgiveness in doing this. Jarod, this is your son"_

'Shit…' Jarod facepalmed with sudden annoyance and frustration with himself. **It's that bitch from goldenrod isn't it! Bitch! Told me she was on the pill!**

"_ I am in no position myself to raise a child, as you will fully understand when you realise who I am. This is why I have bestowed him upon you, to raise as your own. I shan't lie to you. it will be a great responsibility. This child is not like others, and I pray you may realise his potential and allow him to live under your wing. He has your eyes Jarod. Look into those beautiful eyes and tell him you won't look after him…_

_ Eiyvanaa."_

That name struck a chord with Jarod. No, it wasn't that girl in goldenrod. Jarod wrapped up his son in blankets he lay in and stood cradling him in his arms. The child took his sleeve in one baby paw and clung to it, leaning his head against it as his eyes shut slowly… All the while Jarod was lost in thought as he went back inside…

** Eiyvanaa… Eiyvanaa… where did I hear that..? **Jarod racked his brain as he replaced himself in his seat. **Eiyvanaa… "You may call me Eiyvanaa-"** Jarod lurched forwards in shock as his heart stopped briefly, his eyes wide open and staring with awe-filled confusion straight ahead, remembering where he had heard that name. 'Oh no… no no no no this is impossible…' But Jarod had no doubt about it. This was his son, and he knew who the mother was. "**This child is not like others? What a fucking understatement!"**

'Hey you! hold on there!' The small black-clad figure paused unsurely, turning to see over her shoulder. At the end of the alleyway she had just run into, was a man. His tall frame was the opposite of her short round one, and his outline was illuminated by a dull street light.

'Chansey?' The Pokémon asked as she backed away fearfully, bumping into a dumpster as she did so. Another two men emerged from the street into the alleyway and the three advance as a wall, cutting off any escape. 'Chansey!' The Chansey cried as she turned and ran, but stopped short in her stride as she was faced with an inconvenient wall cutting her off. There were no doors she could find as she searched the area frantically, panicking as the dark men approached. She could see what they had in their hands. Guns. Assault rifles.

'Settle down you.' The leading man in the middle said, raising one hand to halt the Chansey in what attempt she may make to escape. 'You have nothing to worry about, just give it to us and we will leave you.' Chansey looked down at the empty blanket she carried in her hands, and unfurled it, holding it up for the men to see it was empty. 'Shit!' The first man took a few steps forwards quickly, raising his rifle barrel. 'All right. Here's what you're going to do.' He hissed as he leant down to Chansey's height. 'You're going to take us to wherever you left it.'

'Chansey!' The Pokémon shouted defiantly, shaking her head. She cried out as the man suddenly sunk a boot into her stomach brutally, then froze as the man thrust the barrel of a desert eagle into her mouth, pointing up into her head.

'Where is it?' His voice exuded calm menace as he held the assault rifle in one hand, the pistol in the other in her mouth.

'…Chansey…' The other two men turned away a bit and closed their eyes as a loud gunshot rang out, the sound of the discharge ringing in their ears as it echoed.

'We're done here.' The first man said ultimately as he replaced his handgun in its holster.

'But what about the-' The other man trailed off suddenly as the first man glared.

'There's nothing we can do. It's already gone.' The man looked upwards. He could see the moon in the gap between the rooftops above him. It was difficult to see tonight.

It was a new moon.


	2. You're only young once

Chapter two

You're only young once

y-Y-Ÿ-¥

Ignorance is bliss; the real world is a hellish nightmare on the horizon.

This has to be my single most poetic chapter I have ever written. Don't expect too much of it, but I'm going to refer back to it time-to-time.

_Open__window__… __crap__… __I__should__have__closed__it__earlier__… __damn__… __huh,__so__what__am__I__going__to__do__now?__Should__I__close__it?__It__'__s__cold__… __fucking__tired__though__… __no,__c__'__mon__Alex.__Get__your__lazy__ass__out__of__bed._ The thing finally stirred, charcoal blankets rising as a sooty ghost from its slumber, his arms stretching out as muscles twinged. The floor thumped rather audibly. Alex wasn't always heavy on his feet, slamming the balls into the plush velvety carpet he simply knew as "his floor". He was when he was lazy. Tonight, he was in such a state. His toes scraped against the ground, lacking the will to wrench themselves from that dreaded "six inch" area from the ground. His arm hooked beneath the curtain falling before him and swept it aside, the dark blue material billowing back and holding over his head for a few mere seconds in the wind; its fuel suddenly cut off with a low resounding noise as window, frame and sill, touched, and it fell back down over Alex's head and neck. He lurched tiredly backwards, dragging the midnight veil from his body.

Walking slowly back, his prying hand met his bed finally. Yet he still stood, he could swear his ear twitched with the faintest touch of a foreign sound. And there it was again… a soft yet paced and rapid whimper from nearby, such an intriguingly curious sound masking a hideous beast of an event. Alex fell. His body collapsed lazily on his bed as fatigue clung to his head like that curtain, but heavy with the deceptive and painfully bleak aura which exuded through his wall from next door, a haze of lies, daring him to continue living with himself as he had for the last four years, ever since he found out what he was, his relationship to his family, and his relationship to the outside world. He had been tossed into a dark sect society tore its ignorant eyes from, and he couldn't get out, and he couldn't get away… He could barely live with himself, the monster he was being groomed into…

_Am__… __I__awake..?__is__it__morning?_

'Alex. Come join me.' Alex's eyes burst open, a light of sorts pertaining from somewhere… But he saw fire. The unmistakeable tongues of flames which licked at his dreams, so hot they burned… or perhaps they weren't hot… perhaps it was a lie, like the rest of his life… perhaps they weren't flames at all… no… they were like flames in his other dreams… they were so real… they had to be fire… they were fire… but now it had a voice… 'Alex.' It says. Alex's shoulder sunk back as he turned, barely peeping over his shoulder behind him. There was a man there. His shadowy blurry body seemed to be cloaked in darkness, yet the light of flames lit up his outline and his hair caught the colour of the fire…

'Who are you?' Alex's already crackly voice managed, keeping calm despite the multitude of confused queries flooding his head. The man turned. His outstretched hand held a flame. A small, blood red flame contained in the palm of his hand, a flame which yielded no light to give the figure a face. 'You?' Alex would not say father. He would not say "Dad". This thing was not his dad. In his eyes, his dad was long dead.

'What is this?' His voice carried a subtle venom, its potency great, yet haste, none.

'It's a fire.' The man's opposite hand revealed itself, unmerging from his side; his hand hovered over the flame, swirling over it slowly as the flames angled and tilted to his skin hungrily. His cold thin fingers reached into the touch of the flame and stroked it. Stroked it like a pet. Grooming the spires of red trailing from the central body.

'No.' the voice almost was unnoticed by Alex, he wasn't even sure if his "dad" said anything, but in that instant he blinked in uncertainty, the fire was gone, replaced by an egg. Perfectly white, large, about eight inches high, yet the pure white shone with a fiery tinge. The fire didn't just touch it, it tainted it. The reflected fire rose, leaving a red of its visual duplicate, but as the reflection fell, the red remained, like a stain. The next time Alex blinked, it changed again. The front face was silvery. 'Look for yourself…' The haunting sound carried itself low like a vile melody rising from hell. Alex complied unsurely, bending over, he brought his face to the surface.

'It's just me.' His voice was uncertain. 'it's me…' Fire whipped through the air, slicing between Alex and the egg in a wave, washing away the image as the flames spiralled around in a column. Alex stumbled backwards, the fire of the wall spinning around him and enclosing him in an infernal twister column around his body. A thin beam of light cut down, jutting out of the darkness above down the centre of the twister and onto Alex's face as he gazed about himself, his white skin illuminated by the twisting red and white lights about him. The dancing blaze was reflected in his eyes, held set strongly in a gaze of dark fascination. The fire…. The heat he was feeling… the raw power of the flames, how they moved, live they lived… The fire closed in on him, the column dragging its orange and crimson body of energy across his skin in an intense feeling of inner warmth as it became one with him…

_I am alpha, I am omega…_

Alex stirred. Clutching his blanket and hugging it tightly to his body, his eyes opened to a new day. His curtains were lit with a little light filtering through the fabric. It was morning. Monday morning. Time to get up. Yawning he sat upright, scratching his head in thought. Monday. It was Monday he usually had the fire dream. The hell thing, fire everywhere, and his "dad" holding an egg. And every time would be the same. Alex would look at the egg and see his reflection, then the fire would close in on him. He had an unhealthy obsession with fire, he wouldn't admit it though.

'Alex! Get out here!' A voice thundered roughly from next door. After a brief minute of moaning to himself, Alex dragged himself from bed. He pulled on his school uniform in a drowsy daze, rubbing at his eyes occasionally. His school uniform consisted of a black T-shirt, a grey pair of shorts, black shoes, grey black and red socks and a black polar-fleece. Pretty colourless. Stumbling out into the kitchen, Alex spotted his dad sitting at the kitchen table. A cup of coffee and a newspaper in his hands. His medium length brown hair was a little tangled, no doubt from what he was doing last night.

'You slept in kid.' He said without looking at Alex, taking a sip from his coffee afterwards.

'I was tired.' Alex said with an uncaring shrug, taking a piece of bread from the breadbasket and heading for the toaster, dropping the two slices in and pressing down the lever.

'I need you to do something for me.' Alex's head snapped towards his dad with a sharp swivelling motion, staring dubiously at the paper as if he could see his dad through it.

'I know that tone Jarod.' Alex didn't call his dad "dad", he called him by his first name. 'I know that tone and I don't want any part of it.'

'You know Tracey Parker don't you?' Jarod put his paper down on the table. 'He's about to give you a very large sum of money at school today.'

'Jarod, I said-'

'You're going to take that money, and bring it back here.'

'Fuck you.' Alex turned away from his dad, leaning on the counter and facing the toaster, watching it impatiently. For a few seconds, nothing happened.

Alex's head suddenly stung slightly on the right, then he felt the world soar past, crying out in pain as he felt the pain of the impact hit him with full force on the temple. His jaw jarred as it hit the edge of the counter as he fell, causing him to bite down on his tongue. He hit the ground landing on his head. His sight was a blur, colours twisting and swaying above him as he lay on his back. Something came at him, grabbing him around the neck and hauling him back to his feet.

'I'm not giving you a choice…' Jarod's voice reeked with stench and cruelty. His eyes stabbed at Alex, piercing cruel eyes. 'Listen to me carefully. You're going to take that money from Tracey Parker, and bring it back to me, alright?' Alex nodded slightly, afraid to move his head too much as it spun. Pain still throbbed with those subtle movements. 'Good boy.' Jarod grinned a toothy mean grin, and leant in a bit closer. 'This is a big payday for me Alex, so do this right for me and I might be grateful enough to give you a reward, alright?' Alex nodded again to the same effect. He didn't want a reward, he just didn't want to get the crap beaten out of him, and whatever reward his dad had planned for him, it couldn't be good… 'Good.' Alex fell back to the ground as his dad released him, slumping back against the counter and leaning against it feeling sick. He could see out of the corner of his eye the chair his dad had hit him with, the entire top half cracked and broken off. He just felt lucky he had a thick skull, evidently…

'Alex? Are you going to do something?'

'Huh? Whuh?' Alex jerked upright all of a sudden, spinning around to find himself face to face with his science teacher, Mrs Maryland.

'Are you going to stare at that Bunsen all day or heat that magnesium?'

'Oh, yeah, right, sorry.' He muttered, slipping a pair of lab glasses on and placing a strip of magnesium in a pair of tongs.

'You seem to find that Bunsen quite fascinating.'

'Meh.' Alex shrugged, watching as he placed the silvery strip of metal over the dancing blue flame, and watching it engulf the metal. The metal burst into a flame, a burning white mass expelling light and smoking vigorously. It was like a little star… but he had seen it before a million times. He wanted to try with a bigger piece of magnesium, but Mrs Maryland wouldn't let him.

'So what do we have now?' The science teacher pressed him.

'Some powdery shit.' Alex observed with a shrug.

'Is that your expert opinion Shadey?' Alex turned over his shoulder to see a grinning blonde girl approach.

'Fine. It's some White powdery shit.' He corrected himself.

'Alex, please be sensible.' The teacher waved a disapproving finger as Alex grunted without care.

'What does it matter? It's burnt. It's dead.' He shrugged as he looked at the crumbling powdery thing held in his tongs.

'It has formed a new substance. It's not dead at all, you know what they say about Ho-oh?'

'Nup.' Alex shook his head, leaning back on his counter. He could see a student performing a test on the other side of the room with an Ampharos standing behind, looking over her shoulder.

'They say when Ho-oh dies, he comes back new from his ashes. That's like a reaction. From the ashes comes something new.' The teacher explained. Alex stared back with a little confusion.

'You could have found a much better analogy.' Alex suggested.

'How do you know Ho-oh's a male anyway?' The girl asked suddenly, as the teacher left.

'They say all legendaries are guys.' Alex replied as he turned back to his experiment.

'Who says?' Alex shrugged again.

'People.'

'You're so unhelpful.'

'Yeah probably.' The girl finally gave up on talking to him, and went back to her own experiment. Alex took no notice, instead just watching his own result crumble slowly. His attention was once again grabbed by the Bunsen burner though. He found himself entranced by the flickering blue flame, jumping and wiggling a little… his pyromania getting the better of him. He wasn't exactly good at hiding that he was a pyro. He wasn't the type of pyro who burned shit down everywhere, he just liked fire a little too much…

It was lunchtime before Alex was approached. A mopey looking kid which was Tracey Parker approached Alex as he sat alone on a bench, his schoolbag occupying the other side of the bench and leaving no room for anybody else to sit there.

'Alex.' Despite his small frail appearance, the young boy's voice carried a lot of feeling and maturity, and it was not a friendly tone.

'Tracey.' Alex muttered, standing tall as the boy approached. The young boy came closer, stopping right in front of Alex and staring up at him. Alex was almost a foot taller than him.

'You're disgusting.' The kid spat from nowhere, his face contorting into an angry scowl as he stared back at the year 11 (form 5). Alex didn't look away, instead stared back harder, challenging the kid's firm stance. The kid did not back away; he stood at his full yet inadequate height with his fists clenched at his sides.

'I am disgusting.' Alex sighed, defeated by the boy's resilience. His hand trailed up his body, the boy flinched at his sudden movement. Alex brushed away a little hair at the side of his head and turned it to show the boy. 'But I'd sooner be disgusting than a bloody cripple.' The boy made a face seeing the patch of dried blood around the bruised point of impact. 'So give me the cash and maybe I can get away without having my face smashed in.' The boy still stared, making up his mind. It was obviously a difficult choice. Giving into something disgusting and wrong, or causing a guy to get the crap beaten out of him.

'You should do something…' The boy sheepishly removed a plastic bag full of money from his bag and handed it to Alex. 'You should call the police.'

'I wish I could kid.' Alex shook his head with a deeper sigh and placed the bag in his backpack. 'Stay safe kid.' Alex slung his bag over one shoulder as he began to walk away, throwing back a quick wave to the boy over his shoulder. He continued towards the field of the school. Maybe the guys would let him play a bit of sport. Public opinion frowned upon his life, but some people gave him a chance. Like Haley, the girl in science.

The field was a popular place amongst the older members of the school. Sports games replaced playing on playgrounds gradually as kids grew up. There were a few games running. Alex noticed a Pokémon game on one field. No humans, just Pokémon playing soccer. On another field next to them was a group of black and grey figures that were students playing soccer. But it was the next field which took Alex's fancy. Ball under one arm, a large framed guy Alex's age charged along the side-line. His hand flew out and struck an incoming opposition in the face open palmed, pushing him away, but another came in after and crashed into him, tackling him and knocking him across the side-line. Alex grinned a bit, placing his bag in a place next to a wire fence where he could see it at all times and called out: 'Hey! Mahid!' The tackler climbed to his feet and turned to Alex, wiping his mouth with his wrist. He grinned as Alex approached.

'Shadey mate! You gonna play?'

'Hell am i.' Alex confirmed, flicking his polar fleece aside onto his bag.

'Well he's on your team.' The tackled boy shouted as he rolled the ball to Mahid.

'Fine then. Shadey's better than the lot of you!' Mahid threw Alex a wild smile, motioning for him to hurry over. 'You can do line-outs can't you? You've played hooker, right?' Alex grinned and nodded, his hands raising to catch the rugby ball passed to him.

'Only for the last ten years.'

'C'mon Jesse!' Alex jerked his neck right, making a cracking noise as he approached the burly year 12, rugby ball in one hand and his arms at his sides, inviting the boy to tackle as he approached at a walking pace. 'What are you waiting for?' He taunted, watching the opposition line approach very slowly, fanned out in case he passed wide. 'Run at me!' The boy charged, bending forwards so he could put his weight into the hit. Alex jogged out to meet him, stepping lightly on his feet as he cradled the ball under one arm and grinning teasingly. Just as the boy reached him, Alex sprinted. Right into the boy, but suddenly swung up an arm as he ducked under the boy's outstretched arm. Alex's hand slapped onto the boy's back as he passed him, kicking out with his foot and pushing down on his back and tripping the boy as he passed. He picked up his pace now, running up and across the field left as the fullback tracked him, matching his angle. Just as they came to meet, Alex sidestepped right with incredible speed. His hand shot out and caught the fullback by the shirt just under his neck. As he dodged right his arm swung around and down to the left, the combined movement pulling the fullback off the ground and flipping him through the air sideways, landing him on his neck as Alex shot past and for the try-line, diving and slamming the ball down, tumbling and landing on his back facing his distant pursuers.

'Just a fend next time Shadey.' The fullback called, rubbing his back with a painful grin.

'Nah. That'd be boring.' Alex replied with his own return grin. He rolled the ball away behind him as he began jogging back to halfway, but stopped as he saw something along the fence. **Shit!** He thought immediately, altering his course and sprinting. 'Hey!' He called loudly, racing towards his bag. 'HEY! What're you doing!' A couple of boys turned looked over their shoulders, pausing in their searching of Alex's bag. 'What the fuck!'

'What's all the cash for Shadey?' One boy sneered, standing and holding the bag in front of him, full of money.

'Give it.' Alex held out one hand to them with a warning leer, slowly walking towards them.

'Pretty suspicious having all this cash at school.' The second teased, joining his friend at his side, yet standing just behind his shoulder.

'We might tell the police about this eh Troy?' The first consulted the second.

'Unless you can do something to keep us quiet…' Troy suggested.

'How about if I break your jaws?' Alex suggested becoming suddenly defensive and aggressive. The two exchanged amused glances, unfazed by Alex's threat and shaking their heads pityingly.

'Acting tough won't get you anywhere Alex.' The first boy told him with a cruel grin as he approached. Alex stood tall with a calm look, staring at the boy as he stopped in front of him. 'You want your money? Fight me for it.' Alex was tough. He was unnaturally tough, nobody could understand it. Even being sure he could beat the crap out of both of these bozos, he made a stupid move. His hand slid down his leg quickly and into his sock. When it returned to view, it held a small switchblade. Alex performed a few fancy twists and flicky things with the blade before holding it with the blade out facing the boy.

'You sure you want to go there?' The boy dropped the bag immediately, leaping backwards away from Alex. The two simultaneously moved away from Alex's bags, looking scared. Alex grinned mockingly and slid the blade back in. He slipped the knife back into his sock as he replaced the cash bag in his backpack and slung it on. 'I didn't think so.' He turned away and began to head off to wherever his next class was. The guys behind him obviously took him for an idiot, anybody with half decent hearing could hear the heavy approaching footsteps from behind.

Alex spun, driving a massive right hook into the boy's jaw as he took him by surprise. He lashed out again with a left hook and caught the opposite side of his jaw as he was dazed by the first, before following up with another right hook. His next left hook landed solidly on the boy's nose and broke it instantly, then a final high kick to the face sent him toppling over backwards. Deciding this guy was out, Alex turned his attention to the second, rushing at him from a distance. This was the second guy, the wussy guy. Easily put off. Alex's hand dipped into his other sock, and pulled out a box of matches. He flipped it open and pulled out a match. He closed it up and positioned the match with the match head resting against the flint, ready to be flicked at the boy. The boy stopped short, staring at the match. Alex grinned at the fear he managed to create. Secretly he enjoyed this power over others, but there was one tiny part of him which imagined this was his dad… standing scared in front of him.

'Back off you cunt.' Alex warned, staring down the guy. The boy looked at his unconscious friend, then back to Alex, then back and forth again. His hand ran down his shirt quickly and grabbed something from his belt. Alex was almost too slow to react. He spun suddenly on his heel, running for his life as he heard a cry of "Staravior!" from behind. There was one problem, his dad didn't let Alex have Pokémon of his own.

'Wing attack Staravior!' Came a command from behind as Alex ran. He just turned over his shoulder as the bird Pokémon came shooting towards at him with wings outspread. He dived forwards just as a wicked gust of wind whipped past with the Pokémon as it shot overhead, where he had just been standing. Alex landed in a roll and jumped to his feet again, running for the gym as he eyed the bird Pokémon circling around for another attack run. He spotted a familiar figure heading slowly along the fence towards him. A young Pacific Islander teacher with dreads.

'Mr Seili!' Alex roared at him, pointing up and stopping sharply as the Staravior came back around and dived. The teacher took an upwards glance short of a second before a pokéball was free from his belt, and a Flareon standing before him.

'Fire blast!' He called as the Staravior dived closer and closer.

'Shit!' Alex ran at full speed for the teacher as if he were a safe zone of sorts. This time the Pokémon came in lower, using aerial ace and darting back and forth on approach. Alex did his best to follow the movements of the Pokémon, heading straight for him head on. He sidestepped, but the Pokémon followed. In a last second reaction, he dived again, this time he soared over top of the Pokémon as it shot under him. He watched in almost slow motion as a scorching (and probably badly fired) fire star ripped across the ground underneath him, underneath his flying body and following up behind the Staravior. He watched in awe as the fire blast collided explosively with the Staravior. His world spun all of a sudden as the explosion behind him propelled him forwards and he landed roughly on his back, face up.

'Staravior! Return!' Alex heard the trademark sound of a pokéball recalling a Pokémon. He clambered quickly to his feet as Mr Seili ran to his side.

'Troy!' He shouted angrily at the boy. 'Come here!' The boy came, his head hanging low. The teacher now turned to face Alex with a little guilt of how close his attack had been to him. 'Oh shit that was too close… Are you alright?'

Alex nodded. 'Yeah. I'm good.' He answered gratefully. 'Thanks.'

'Troy what the hell are you thinking?' Mr Seili shouted as the boy approached. 'This is a serious offense, the police could get involved with this.' Alex cringed as he caught that last sentence.

'I really wouldn't like to waste the police's time Mr Seili.' He said quickly. One thing his dad did not like was police. He really didn't like getting involved with the police. 'I'm willing to forgive Troy, I provoked him by fighting his friend.' Mr Seili turned away to face back at Troy. Alex quickly nodded to Troy, encouraging him to play along. Troy was not a very independent guy. He was a follower, so he followed Alex's lead.

'I just got angry. I'm sorry Alex.' He apologised. Mr Seili bit his lip a bit, looking between the two.

'Well,' he sighed, 'if you're willing to accept his apology I suppose we could settle things here. It would make things a hell of a lot easier.'

'I accept his apology.' Alex confirmed with a sharp nod. **The****less****I****have****to****do****with****the****police****the****better****…**

The rest of the day was less eventful. Just some maths work. No problem, and a five minute bus ride home. Trudging in through the front door, Alex found his dad sitting at his usual table, opposite another two men he was talking with.

'Dad.' All three of the men looked up to see who the newcomer was.

'Alex.' Jarod nodded slowly, watching to see what Alex would do.

'I got some homework I might need help with.' Alex held up his bag as he spoke in code.

'Cut the shit kid, we're green.' Alex grunted as he walked over to the table, dropping the code.

'I got your fucking cash Jarod.' Alex threw his backpack to his dad, who caught it out of the air and promptly unzipped it. A wide grin crossed his face as he observed the cash bag inside. The other two leant in too view the contents also.

'Good work kid.' He said with a satisfied grin as he stared greedily at the money.

'Whatever. Just leave me alone until dinner's here.'

'Hold up Alex.' Alex stopped. He resisted the urge to direct his "dad" a hateful glare, and remained facing away. 'I told you I'd give you a reward didn't i?' Jarod turned to the man on his right and nodded.

'Aww c'mon Jarod!' The man protested with a sudden frown, his eyes shut with a strange expression. 'I'm almost done!'

'Give the kid his reward.' Jarod said sternly. Alex watched with admitted curiosity, trying to make sense of what this was. The man reluctantly reached one hand down and under the table where Alex couldn't see. When it re-emerged, there was something red in it.

'Catch!' The man tossed the thing at Alex. His first reaction was to dodge whatever it was, but something about it made him step forwards quickly and catch the badly thrown thing. His eyes fell to the thing, observing it curiously. And it moved.

'Vul…' it murmured as it rolled over weakly in Alex's arms. He was absolutely horrified. It was a Vulpix.

'Bitch hasn't been making enough to cover the upkeep.' Jarod explained. 'Consider it as your birthday present.' In a sudden fit of panic, Alex spun around quickly, rushing into the hallway immediately and away from the men.

'Pix?' The Pokémon mewed weakly as it looked up with its almost shut eyes. Its entire body was a mess of patchy sticky white, brown and red. White surrounded its hindquarters and face, but what really worried Alex was the damage done.

'How could he do this to you..?' He murmured as he skidded into his room and locked the door behind him. He placed the little Pokémon on his bed carefully, as not to hurt it. He immediately fell to his knees beside his bed, trying to get to eye level with it. The thing had been fucked up. Fucked everywhere. Its anal and vaginal passages were cavernous and raw looking, full of white and bloody. It was disgusting. **How****can****somebody****do****this****to****a****Pokémon!** Alex thought as he frantically scrabbled through a drawer and took out a cloth and a small medicinal bottle. The things his dad did meant Alex often had to attend to the pokémons' "damages", but they usually weren't as small as a Vulpix. The types of damages done meant he often had to touch Pokémon in ways he didn't enjoy… this one was going to be especially tough.

The Vulpix saw him return, and tried to scurry away again. Alex went for it quickly, before she could escape. He quickly grabbed it lightly but quickly around the torso.

'VULPIIIIX!' It screeched, writhing about in his hands. Alex hated himself for doing so, but he held it there, preventing it from escaping. He held it down for about half a minute, until it ran out of energy and went limp. Alex removed one hand and wiped his brow with a sigh of relief.

'Are you finished?' He asked softly, still holding it lightly in one hand.

'Pix…' The Vulpix turned a little and swatted at his hand weakly in an attempt to defend itself. Alex shook his head sadly, and lowered himself to the Pokémon's eye level.

'Hey, can you stay still for me? I'll help you?' The Pokémon stared at him with suspicion over its shoulder. Alex picked it up carefully and turned it to face him. The whole while, the Pokémon stared him down. 'Keep still for a second…' He raised the cloth and brought it towards the Vulpix.

'Vulpix!' The Pokémon tried desperately to backpedal, but was still held in Alex's grip. He wiped quickly at the captive Pokémon's mouth, but to little avail. The cum wouldn't come off. As he removed the cloth, he saw the Vulpix staring at him. It was fear in her eyes. Pure, utter fear. He lightly raised his thumb on the hand holding the Vulpix and brought it back down on its back, causing it to flinch all of a sudden.

'Ssssshh… it's okay…' He cooed as he stroked it a little with one digit. 'I just want to help you… I'm not like them…'

'Vulpix…' The Pokémon cowered, trying to bury its head in the blankets. Alex finally let go, his hand hovered over the Vulpix briefly, then moved away.

'I just want to help you…' He assured the Pokémon once again, holding his hands up innocently. The Vulpix did not look at him. Its head was in the blankets in an attempt to hide. Alex swore to himself and began searching around quickly. After a few seconds, he noticed a colourful bag under his bed. He pulled the bag out and ripped the top open, pulling out a handful of lollies. 'Do you like these?' He asked, offering one of the lollies to the Vulpix in his hand. The Vulpix's head lifted up a bit, her eyes opening. She stuck her nose out a bit and sniffed the lolly. After a few careful seconds, she took it, tilting her head on an angle and taking it. She immediately turned her head back down as she ate, hiding her face from view. Alex frowned a little, and took another from the bag, offering it to the Pokémon. Quickly this time, she raised her head, took the lolly, and hid again in the folds of the blankets. Alex grinned a little. It would be a cute sight if this Pokémon hadn't just been gang fucked and injured. Alex took a third, but this time held it a little further out, daring the little Pokémon to take it. Vulpix looked up at him, her big blue eyes questioning his motivations. **What****is****he****doing?** She thought. **Is****he****… ****could****he****really****be****different****from****them?** Alex wiggled the lolly a bit with a slight smile at seeing her face. 'It's okay. You can trust me…' The Vulpix suddenly shook her head, backing away whining. **I****'****m****not****falling****for****that****again!** She thought sternly. Seeing her retreat, Alex frowned a bit, feeling disappointment arise once again. He tried reaching out once again towards her slowly.

'Vulpix!' She barked quietly, backing into where Alex's bed met the wall. She was unable to move any further back. As Alex's hand reached her she tried to shy away, but he placed one hand gently on her back and stroked her a little with his thumb.

'it's okay…' He told her once more, using the most convincing tone he could, fixating his eyes on hers. 'The bad men are gone. You're safe here. I won't hurt you.' He assured her. Vulpix just stared back, the boy's thumb stroking her back was interfering with her thought process. 'I would never hurt you.' Alex noticed something when he said that. He swore he could see a small glint in the Pokémon's eyes when he spoke. Vulpix raised her head a bit, somehow stirred by his words… they had moved so fluently and they felt almost warm… his promise carried tremendous sway somehow… it was just something in his voice. Something which said to her "I will not lie to you". **Who****is****this?** She asked herself once more, her eyes trying to pierce the boy's mind to discover his intentions. 'Will you let me help you?' Vulpix gazed into his eyes one last time as she fought with herself. She hurt. This boy said he wanted to help her… somehow… she believed him.

'Vulpix.' She answered softly with a nod, standing up and wobbling a little. Alex grinned somewhat at her trusting him, and sat on the bed beside her.

'I'm just going to pick you up now, okay?' Vulpix nodded a little as she looked up at him sadly. 'Alright. Here I go.' His right hand went over Vulpix's back and curled under her body, picking her up quickly and placing her in his lap. He observed her again, this time from a closer angle, and frowned. 'Arceus, how could they do this to you?' his head shook in disbelief, his hands parting matted sticky brown fur as he searched for any cuts she may have had.

'Vulpix Vulpix…' Vulpix agreed, wallowing in her own despair now. **More****importantly****why..?** She cringed only slightly as she felt a pair of fingers stroke the back of her head. They were warm and moved gently and lovingly, trying to comfort her. She didn't understand this boy… he wasn't like the men she serviced.

Alex swore under his breath now, his body bent sideways to see the damage done around her hindquarters. 'Your body still hurts, doesn't it?' He queried carefully. Vulpix nodded a little, not looking at Alex but rather towards the curtain covering his window. 'Does it hurt back here?' Vulpix cringed all of a sudden. Alex only stroked her head a bit more and leant into her ear. 'I'm not going to touch you there without your permission.' He assured her. 'But if you would let me, I think I could make the pain go away a bit.' Vulpix turned towards Alex now, searching his eyes for his motives. He just smiled back warmly. 'I want to help you…' There it was again. Vulpix heard that same tone, that same energy was carried in his voice. **Do****I****really****want****him****to****touch****me****there?****Even****if****it****makes****me****better?** She thought. She actually did trust him. As much of an untrusting independent Pokémon as she was, his voice swayed her.

'Pix.' She conceded with a nod. She flattened her head against Alex's lap and raised her rear, lifting her six tails as she did so, as she was forced to do for the men. Alex grinned inwardly at her trust of him, but outwardly frowned as he turned to get a better angle to see her. Her passages were spread significantly further than a Vulpix should be and looked definitely sore.

'All right, you tell me what hurts when I touch it…' He reached out slowly, dreading the pain vulpix would feel on contact. He gently placed one finger on the entrance of her vagina, causing her to suddenly yelp in pain, and him to recoil quickly. 'I'm sorry that hurt…' He apologised, taking the cloth and bottle beside him and removing the top of the bottle. He tipped the bottle onto the cloth, filling a patch in the middle with a cream coloured thick fluid. 'All right, this might be a bit cold…'

'Vulp!' She yelped again, not in pain but surprise at the sudden coldness on her privates. Alex continued undeterred, knowing this would help her. He gently rubbed the cool cream onto her, around and even just dipping into, her vagina. The whole while Vulpix was tensed up, unused to the feeling. He then removed the cloth from her body.

'Can I go up a bit now and do that?' He asked as he ran a finger along one of her six upraised tails. Vulpix nodded a little, raising her tails a bit more as Alex proceeded, doing the same process with her anal passage, also spread painfully wide. After he finished, he threw the cloth aside and went back to petting her gently. 'The pain should disappear over the next hour or so, so just rest for the time being.' Vulpix looked up at Alex with those big, sad eyes, not sure of how she was feeling. One of the boy's hands rubbed at her back, and the other moved under her chin, and began scratching her neck lightly. Performing the natural reaction of Vulpix's everywhere; she moved her head down, leaning into his scratching hand involuntarily with a small murr. Alex grinned, seeing he was making a breakthrough. 'Do you like that girl?' Vulpix nodded a little, her eyes slowly closing as she was absorbed into the feeling of Alex's hand. 'So… do you have a name?' Vulpix looked up questioningly.

'Vulpix.' She said. Alex grinned and shook his head.

'You need a real name.' He told her. 'Not just Vulpix, something special.' **Something****special?** She thought with interest. Alex thought to himself. **I****need****a****good****name****… ****I****want****to****train****her****and****evolve****her****… ****so****I****need****a****name****which****fits****a****Vulpix****and****a****Ninetails.****Something****generic****I****guess.** It hit him. At school most people wouldn't come near him, his dad being a Pokémon-sex-slave-dealer and all. This Vulpix was giving him a chance… 'Haley.' He said, scratching Vulpix's ear as he remembered the blond girl talking to him in science.

'Vulpix!' She shot back with what would pass for a pained smile. **If****he****wants****to****give****me****a****name,****fine****then.****It****'****ll****be****a****nice****change****from**** "****bitch****" ****or**** "****cumslut****"…**

'All right Haley, jump in.' The Vulpix threw Alex a dubious glare from the floor. She placed her forepaws on the edge of the bathtub and looked over the edge to see water in there. The water was at a low level so she didn't have to swim.

'Vulpix..?' She asked warily, eyeing the water with suspicion.

'Wait, you've never had a bath?' Alex bent down to pick her up with a smile. 'It's great fun. You'll enjoy it.'

'Vulpix!' She said defiantly, crossing her forelegs in a very humanesque way and looking to the side.

'Don't be like that.' Alex sighed a bit at her stubbornness. 'I told you I would never hurt you, don't worry.' Vulpix stared back at him, unsure whether he was going to put her in or not. But he didn't. 'If you want me to, I'll put you in.' He told her with a grin. 'I have baths all the time. It'll make you feel good, and it'll clean up your fur.' Vulpix looked back and forth between Alex and the bath as she tried to make up her mind. **Well****… ****he****'****s****been****good****to****me****so****far****…** She thought as she turned back to the foreign device beside her.

'Vulpix.' She nodded unsurely. The water slowly approached Haley as she braced herself for the sudden cold. It never arrived. Warmth flooded around her legs and belly as Alex placed her in the tub.

'See? It ain't all that bad is it?' Alex splashed a little water onto her back as he reached for a brush.

'Vulpix.' Haley admitted as she waded around in the water, sort of liking the feeling of the warm water. She lay down in the water, submerging her body except her head with an inwards grin. Taking the brush from the edge of the bath, Alex brought it down on her back.

'Just keep still for a second…'

'Vulpix..?' Haley queried as she felt something scratch across her back. She looked over her shoulder to see Alex's hand scrubbing away at her fur with a brush. It was kind of tickly and it was bristly.

'Just tell me if I'm scrubbing too hard.' Alex said, moving onto her side with the brush. Haley shook her head, not minding the feeling as Alex tended to her fur, scrubbing out the matted parts and occasionally straightening out a tuft of fur. 'You really are a mess you know…' He really didn't think that comment through. Haley quickly fixed him a disapproving look as he went a bit red. **You****'****d****be****a****mess****too****if****you****were****fucked****over****six****times****a****week.** She thought with a frown. 'Sorry… I forgot…' Alex apologized. 'But you aren't going back to that, alright?' Alex replaced the brush on the side of the bath and picked up Haley, turning her to face him and holding her in front of his face. 'Coz' your my partner now and I'm going to treat you right.' He told her with a sharp nod and a grin. Haley cocked her head, something new coming over her. She couldn't understand this boy. She hated humans. She hated them all, except this one… **Your****partner?** She thought, intrigued by his wording. 'I'll get you a towel…' Alex placed Haley on the ground and headed for a cabinet. He removed a towel from the cabinet and turned around, only to be faced with a brown and red ball of fluff standing there. 'What the…' He grinned as he knelt down in front of Haley. He could see droplets of water everywhere around him, shaken off her coat. She looked up at him with a blank look, her big red eyes still visible through the fluffed up fur. 'I see…' Alex reached out one hand and smoothed down some fur on her back. 'No need for a towel then?'

'Vulpix.' Haley answered with a shake of her head, standing still and allowing Alex to smooth down her fur. She allowed him. She actually trusted him. Who could have known the son of the demon master was so different?

'So…' Alex began as he smoothed out a few more tufts of fur. 'You ever been to school before?'


	3. That fire on the horizon

Chapter 3

That fire on the horizon…

Many battles must begin with one.

Journey of hundred thousand words must begin with single step.

Unless pushed out of plane…

'_Pix__…'_ Alex pried an eye open, briefly surprised by the sound. Seeing it was his Pokémon, a new sight to him for the morning, he lay at ease once again. Haley was simply a ball of red and brown fur, curled up on his blanket on his stomach. He felt happy she had found enough trust in him to keep next to him through the night. She had been abused for Arceus knows how long living as a sex slave in Alex's dad's basement, she was actually pretty strong. She wasn't as broken and hopeless as the other Pokémon Alex saw outside of the basement. She was fiery and strong, her spirit unbroken by her abuse. He really admired her for that. Here was him, this tough medium built human with a legend right hook being beaten over by his dad, and then there was this little tiny Vulpix, raped several times a week and no doubt beaten and insulted constantly, yet she still had more will than he. Alex remembered how she had swatted at his hand yesterday, out of energy and unable to escape, yet she still fought back in a way. She was fiery. He liked her for that. His hand extended slowly, hovering ominously over his blanket as it reached out to Haley. The ball of fluff exploded into a panicked frenzy as soon as he touched her. Haley leapt to her feet and scrambled away, backing into the corner of the bed and flattening her ears, growling as Alex sat petrified by sudden shock. **Wait****… ****you..?** Haley ceased her growling, her ears sat upright again as she stood tall again, taking a less confrontational stance.

'It's just me.' Alex pointed out, crossing his legs and patting his lap. Haley glared at him uncertainly, but her stare softened a bit as she re-approached Alex. Alex moved his hand aside as Haley climbed over his legs and curled up in his lap, looking up at Alex with an indifferent expression. She secretly wanted to be petted, but hid that from everybody, including herself. She couldn't understand having such sudden carvings for a human's attention, and therefore the feeling didn't register with her and buried itself in her subconscious. Alex lowered his hand, dragging his fingers down from Haley's head, down her neck and back to where her tails met her body. 'So are you ready for your first day of school?'

'Vulpix?' Haley questioned dubiously. She had heard about this "school", and she didn't like the sound of it. A place where humans go to spread their ideals and meet with one another was not something good.

'It's not as bad as people say.' Alex assured her as he peeled back his blanket a bit, but stopping his hand and holding it in mid-air for the Vulpix to move aside. She climbed back to her feet and trotted around Alex's side as he pulled the blanket off, leaving him lying in his shirt and boxers. His legs swung over the edge and he came to his feet, dizzy slightly as he yawned and fell towards his desk, littered with clothing carelessly strewn across it. He remembered Haley behind him and was about to ask her to turn around, but then he realised she would most likely be unfazed, her having experienced what she had. He stripped off his boxers as Haley took another fascinated look around his room, looking up at the ceiling and wallpaper. She was still looking around the room when Alex slung his bag over his shoulder, dressed in his uniform. 'Alright… so…' Alex looked briefly over his shoulder to his desk. 'Have you got a pokéball anywhere?' Haley was upon him immediately, growling and backing away as she stared. 'Okay, okay, I'm sorry!' he said quickly, holding his hands up innocently in defence. 'If you don't like them I won't use one.' Haley shook her head, growling for a few seconds more to make a point before standing back upright. 'But for future reference, just tell me nicely. I won't do anything you don't want.'

'Vulpix.' Haley shot back slowly, staring at Alex with a look he had seen from some of his peers when he said something stupid. A look which he referred to as the "no shit" look. **Tell****you****nicely?****What****do****you****think****I****was****doing?****You****can****'****t****understand****anything****I****say!****Would****you****rather****I****bite****you?**

'Oh right.' Alex said feeling dumb. It was almost like he could understand her thoughts; Haley was just very good at using what little facial expression she had. 'Okay then. Growl equals you don't like something.'

'Vulpix.' Haley confirmed with a nod, sitting on the edge of Alex's bed and looking up at him.

'So how are you going to travel with me? Just walk?' To answer his question, Haley jumped down from his bed and stood at his feet. 'Okay then… I guess that's okay.'

Alex completely forgot about hid "dad" being in the kitchen. As he emerged around the corner into the kitchen, he stopped suddenly. Haley stopped also, seeing the demon master in front of her. Instead of her usual reaction upon seeing him and backing away, she barked at him.

'Vulpix-Vulpix!' She barked, baring her tiny fangs and growling, overcome by a strange feeling of courage. The Jarod looked up from his paper he was always reading and stared at Haley with his cold emotionless eyes.

'The slut's got an attitude.' He commented before going back to reading his paper. 'Fuck her harder and break her. Works wonders on the little bitches.'

'Vulpix!' Before Alex could react, Haley had moved, spewing a plume of fire into his dad. Jarod yelled and jumped out of his chair, the flames scorching across the table and torching the paper which was falling to the table top. The white cup full of coffee suddenly burst, cracking explosively under the sudden heat and showering the area in a hail of coffee. Alex at first was overtaken by everything which was happening, his main focus however being the burning table in the middle of the room. It crackled and burnt with leaping spires of black smoke and shimmering orange flames.

'YOU LITTLE BITCH!' Alex was ripped from his trance as his dad screamed furiously, wrenching his chair from the ground an upturning it in his hands as he rushed for the suddenly cowering Vulpix who had taken to hiding behind Alex. 'FUCKING MOVE IT!' his dad screamed, holding the chair over his shoulder and seething with anger as he stood with his son between him and his target.

'Vulpix!' The Pokémon cried, biting at the back of Alex's sock and tugging at it while whimpering, now overwhelmed with fear. Alex didn't know how, but something about the situation gave him strength. Maybe it was Haley, seeing her suddenly overwhelmed with fear after being so strong, he just felt that strength… Haley had suddenly lost it, and he had to take on her role. Alex set his shoulders back, stood up straight, and stared his dad back in the eyes.

'No.' He said, holding his dad in his stare, his voice resonated with authority.

'What?' is dad hissed, taking another step towards his son. 'Listen to me-'

'No! you listen to me!' Alex shouted suddenly, halting his dad. His voice lowered to a menacing tone as he looked down at Haley. 'This is my Pokémon Jarod. If anybody's teaching her a lesson, it's gonna be me. Gotta show her who's boss, and that's me. give me a few minutes outside.' Alex nodded knowingly to his dad as he stood facing him. What happened next was surprising. Jarod smiled a bit. A cruel, respectful smile.

'Look who's finally grown some balls.' He said, nodding back a little.

'Yeah, now get out of my face before I break that chair on yours.' His dad stepped forwards briefly, but stopped short, deciding to just leave it.

'Don't get smart boy.' Jarod warned, placing the chair back on the ground as he still watched Alex.

'I'm going out.' He turned away towards the front door and began walking. 'Come on bitch.' Haley froze on the spot, unsure of what had just happened. The boy, Alex, had turned on her. **Shit!****He****is****a****bad****guy!** She thought in a panic. She backed away from Alex, staring up at him with fear as he opened the front door. 'Come on!' He barked commandingly. Haley looked over her shoulder and saw the hateful face of the demon master behind her, and ran for the front door, sprinting past Alex onto the porch. 'And Jarod…' Alex began again as he headed out the door after Haley. 'You might want to put that fire out.'

'SHIT!' Alex shut the door, and immediately fell to his knees.

'I'm sorry Haley, I had to! I had to trick him…' He broke out in a harsh whisper as Haley backed off whimpering. 'I said I wouldn't hurt you, I won't. I was lying! I had to lie to keep him from hitting you!' Haley did not look convinced. 'Haley, I know you've only known me for a day, but you have to trust me please! I meant what I said yesterday…' He pleaded desperately. 'I meant it, I will never hurt you ever…' He held one hand out to Haley, asking for forgiveness.

Haley wasn't sure. Everything was happening too quickly for her. first she distrusted him, then when she finally began to trust him, he goes back to that, losing her trust… **But****he****was****trying****to****help****you****Haley****…** Haley realised with shock she was referring to herself as Haley now. She had adopted the boy's name he gave her.

'I never meant anything I said in there, you have to believe me…' He started once more. Haley took a step forwards back towards Alex. When he told her yesterday he wouldn't hurt her, she believed him somehow. He hadn't hurt her yet. His reasons for saying those things made sense… could she look past that sudden fearful display? 'I will never hurt you Haley.' Alex's voice rung with that same thing she had felt yesterday. That same quality which Haley couldn't understand, but made her only sure he wasn't lying. Nobody could lie in a voice like that… Hayley stepped forwards a bit more. She stuck her tongue out and licked Alex's middle finger in forgiveness. Alex smiled in relief with a sigh. 'Thank you.' He breathed heavily. 'C'mon. Let's forget about this can we?'

'Vulpix.' Haley agreed with a little nod as Alex stood up again.

'Alright. Let's get going then. I can see the bus down the road.' A few seconds later, a white bus with a red, a yellow and a blue stripe down the side pulled up just outside Alex's place. As the doors opened with a hiss Alex leapt up the four steps in a single bound. Trailing behind him was Haley, who scarpered up the four steps quickly, just managing to get in as the doors almost closed on her tails.

'Got a new friend Alex?' Came a call from the back.

'Look out, Shadey's got a Pokémon!'

'Hey Shadey,' A boy sneered as he leant out from his seat, blocking Alex's path down the aisle, 'You gonna root that like your dad does?' The boy was on the floor in a second. Blood pissed from his nose as Alex stepped over him casually, shaking his fist off and wiping the blood off on a seat as he passed. Everybody suddenly shut up and they were back in their seats silent. Haley jumped over the boy as she passed, looking over her shoulder to watch him. She turned right and leapt up onto the seat with Alex, looking at the boy still.

'Vulpix?' She asked quietly as she watched the boy slowly drag himself back into his seat.

'I ain't like Jarod.' Alex told her softly as he stared straight ahead. 'No cunt's gonna tell me otherwise, and no cunt's gonna pick on you, or I'm gonna smash them.' Haley actually grinned a little hearing him say this. 'And by the way…' Haley turned her head up to look at Alex, twitching her ear a bit. 'That was cool what you did at home.' Haley was confused, and cocked her head in her special way to show she didn't understand. 'That ember. Lighting the table on fire? That was awesome!' Alex whispered excitedly as he petted her, stroking her back. Haley grinned up at him, happy he didn't disapprove of her move. She didn't know where it came from, but Alex's approval suddenly became important to her.

'Hey Alex!'

'Vulpix!' Haley barked, jumping away and backing into Alex as she saw a blonde haired human looking over the seat in front of Alex.

'Is that a Vulpix?' Human Haley asked with wide eyes, reaching her hand out.

'Vulpix!' Vulpix Haley barked back, growling and baring her teeth as human Haley recoiled.

'She's a bit shy.' Alex placed one hand on his Pokémon's back again and stroked her, causing her to calm down a bit. 'It's okay Haley… settle down…'

'Haley?' Human Haley asked with confusion.

'Haley,' Alex spoke to the human, 'I could give you a big emotional speech about how I came to that name, but in doing so I would of course show emotion and therefore be a girl, so just be flattered and don't ask further.' Haley looked back and forth between Alex and the Vulpix.

'Guys have feelings too.' She advised him with a sigh. Alex shrugged with a "meh" sound.

'Not really. Feelings are just things programmed into our memories by Nazi zombies hiding in our closets (been playing too much black-ops).' Haley stared blankly, trying to make sense of what Alex just said. She shook it from her head and turned away. That was something Alex went by. If you want a girl to stop talking to you, just mention Nazi zombies and she will leave you alone. If she doesn't and presses you on the subject of Nazi zombies she is awesome and you have to marry her because she's awesome.

'Vulpix?' Haley questioned with confusion.

'I'm just being weird. Don't worry.'

Haley was not comfortable at school. She practically clung to Alex's leg as he headed to class so she wouldn't be kicked by any other students. She was not happy at all. There were so many pairs of legs passing her and rubbish was everywhere. When it finally came to lunchtime she appeared a little calmer. Alex sat next to the fence where he had placed his bag yesterday, and was shortly joined by Haley. He removed the wrapper of a sandwich he had got at the school cafeteria and offered it to her, and she took it gratefully and dug into it. Alex was enjoying his time in lying in the sun, but it was suddenly obscured by something. He opened his eyes as he felt Haley back into him, growling.

'So you have your own Pokémon now?' Tracey asked as he observed Haley from a safe distance.

'Yeah.' Alex answered, placing one hand on Haley's back and stroking her. It was remarkable how hostile she was to others, yet she had come to trust him so quickly.

'I hope you're treating her right.' Tracey said with his arms crossed.

'Doing my best.' Alex answered, crossing his own arms as he returned a similar look.

'Want to battle then?' Alex recoiled a little with surprise.

'Battle?' He asked unsurely, looking across at Haley.

'A Pokémon battle.' Tracey turned around to a small Pokémon to his left. He cupped his hands around his mouth and called. 'Hey! Poochyena!' A small grey and black shape came bounding towards them from a distance. The canine Pokémon grinned a bit as it approached its trainer.

'Poochyena!' it cried as it sat next to his trainer. Alex wasn't sure.

'I don't know…' he said as he looked around at the Pokémon and people surrounding him. 'I haven't had her for long enough to train her.' Tracey snorted with annoyance.

'Fine then. Your call.' He turned around and began to walk away. 'You're probably too weak anyway.' Alex and Haley were both on their feet in a second, teeth gritted.

'No you don't!' Alex shouted after him, taking the bait.

'Vulpix!' Haley agreed, growling as she faced the Poochyena.

'It's on I take it?' Tracey asked as he turned back around.

'Hell yeah it is!' Alex shouted as Haley took a position in front of him, the Poochyena did so also.

'Alright then.' Tracey adjusted his glasses with one finger. 'Bite!' Alex cringed as the Poochyena came charging. **Vulpix****… ****moves****… ****what****moves?**

'Tackle!' He called as the Poochyena attacked. Haley broke into a run, charging back into the Poochyena as he bit down on her shoulder as she hit him.

'Vulpix!' She cried as the Poochyena clung to his shoulder with his jaws, holding her into the ground. **Shit!****Wrong****move!** Alex though with a massive pang of guilt.

'C'mon Haley! Break out of it!' He pleaded her as the Poochyena shook her in his jaws.

'Pix!' Haley cried again as she tried to push the Poochyena off her.

'Haley, I know you can!' Alex called in encouragement. 'I know what you're like! You're strong! So show him!' Haley opened her eyes a bit, feeling her strength drain. She wanted to fight back… she wanted to do what Alex encouraged her to… but she couldn't…

'Piiix…' She moaned, suddenly going limp in the Poochyena's jaws. The Poochyena dropped her with a grunt, disappointed by such a weak effort against him.

'Shit! Haley!' Alex rushed into the battle as the Poochyena turned and trotted away, basking in his victory. Haley was not moving. Alex dived for her, landing on his knees beside her. His hands shot out to pick her up, but she was gone all of a sudden. She was on her feet again, and charging for the oblivious Poochyena with renewed fury.

'Poochyen-'

'Slam!' Alex cried as the Poochyena spun around. Haley jumped a foot into the air, spinning 180 degrees in mid-air and slamming all six of her tails into the Poochyena. The Pokémon went flying, bouncing off the grass a few times before landing on his feet, grimacing. 'All right Haley!' Alex whooped, jumping into the air in that way ten year olds do and punching into the air.

'Not over yet!' Tracey called back, taking a stance. 'Use bite again!'

'Ember!' As the Poochyena charged back at her, Haley drew back her head, and spewed a column of fire forth. Well… in all honesty, column was an overstatement. It was a small stream of fire. The Poochyena charged straight through the flame, gritting his teeth as he ran right through and leapt at Haley, biting her on the same shoulder as she cried out. He shook her a few times, hitting her against the ground, and threw her aside. Her body went limp for real this time, and she began whimpering.

'Not a bad first shot. Tracey observed as Alex leapt at his Pokémon, picking it up and cradling it in his arms. 'Use this on her.' Alex looked up and snatched the object out of the air as Tracey threw it. A potion. 'Keep training her though, and work on her special attack abilities.' Tracey turned away and began back towards the main building with his Poochyena in tow.

'Vulpix…' Haley whined apologetically as Alex sprayed the potion onto her shoulder wounds. **That****'****s****it****…** she thought with sadness. **Just****like****Tobias****… ****I****let****him****down****too****… ****I****'****m****a****terrible****Pokémon****…**

'Are you alright?' Alex asked, tilting Haley's chin up so she faced him.

'Vulpix…' Haley apologised, looking away in shame.

'Don't be like that Haley.' Alex assured her, turning her back towards him. 'A loss just means we need to spend time training with one another. We just need to do some training.' Haley cocked her head, feeling pleasantly surprised. **Tobias****abandoned****me****after****I****lost****… ****why****isn****'****t****Alex?** 'I reckon you need to get a bit of an understanding of yourself here.' Alex told her as he lifted her up in his arms.

'Vulpix?' She asked him as she tried craning her neck over her shoulder to see Alex's face, but her shoulder still hurt a bit.

'You need to know what fire is…' Alex began in a reflective tone. 'If anybody knows what fire is, it's me.'

Alex walked silently along the footpath. Haley was still confused, but followed him. Now school had finished, Alex could go where he wanted. In this particular instance, it was the park. The park had a special area reserved for trainers to practice with their Pokémon, and that was where he was heading. Inside the fenced off area were several training dummies. Wooden. They were all burnt and sliced and broken looking from many impacts and attacks.

'Alright Haley.' Alex stopped suddenly and Haley bumped into the back of his leg. Alex turned and sat facing Haley. He slipped a hand into his sock and withdrew a box of matches as Haley watched with intrigue. He took one match and struck it. The thing burst into a small flame as sparks hit it from the flint. Alex held the small wavering flame in between Haley and himself. 'This is a flame Haley.' He explained. Haley nodded. She was a fire Pokémon. She knew what a fire was. 'This fire is you.' He explained softly. 'See how small and insignificant it is?'

'Vulpix.' Haley nodded, looking down at herself. The match was her. Small and insignificant.

'This is you.' Alex continued. 'Now imagine this. Imagine we are in the forest.' Haley did. She imagined they were surrounded by foliage everywhere, green and lush. 'Now imagine if I dropped this match.' Haley's image burst into an explosion of red. Fire climbed up trunks of trees and scorched leaves and burned twigs lying on the ground… the sky was lit with a pale red glow. 'this is what you can do…' Alex told her, immersing himself in a similar vision as Haley as he looked into the sky. 'A single little match with the right fuel can become an inferno.' Alex lowered his head to face Haley. 'You. you're that inferno.' He said with a nod. 'We just need fuel for you.'

'Vulpix-Vulpix?' She asked. **What****fuel?****I****don****'****t****understand!**

'I've researched how fire Pokémon work, and where the fire comes from.' Alex explained further. 'Fire comes from the spirit.' He reached out and placed a finger just under Haley's chin. 'Haley, you have the most spirit I've ever seen in a Pokémon.' Haley listened with fascination and amazement at how Alex could describe this. She felt warm as he complimented her. 'I saw you yesterday. No energy and tired but still fighting back against me.' Alex grinned at the image. 'That's spirit, and you've got a hell of a lot of it. You just need to believe in yourself as much as I do.' Alex stirred now, standing up from his sitting position. He turned and pointed to a target. 'Ember!' Haley leapt to her feet, filled with inspiration, and gave it her all. A stream of steady fire burst from her maw, scorching the bottom half of the dummy. She closed her mouth again, her confidence suddenly hitting a low again as she saw what little damage she did.

'Vulpix…' she apologised again.

'No!' Alex called to her. 'Don't give up! Remember that fire in the forest! That match lighting the fire! You can do better than this!' Haley spun back, throwing another wave of fire out. It was similar in strength to the last though. 'See? look! It's a bit bigger now!' Alex exclaimed excitedly. 'Come on! You have more potential than this! I know you're better than this!' Haley drew her head back, feeling Alex's words touch something deep inside her, she threw another fire attack. The wave tore out as a larger stream now, greater in intensity and half bigger again than her last attempt. 'Again! Show it what you can do!' She went again, making a little more progress, but becoming suddenly more tired at her effort. 'Come on Haley, are you going to let a little thing like being tired stop you?' She went again, this time her attack was a little smaller. Alex didn't want to do it, but he had to while he was making progress. 'Remember my dad!' He called out. 'Remember what he did to you! All those things he did to you for years and years and he still didn't break you!' Alex was almost screaming by this point. 'That's because you're stronger than this! Are you going to let a little fatigue get you down after everything you've been through! You're strong Haley! Show me!' Haley drew her head back once more, drawing upon that warm feeling she received from Alex's words and encouragement, and released it as a torrent. The flames landed dead in the centre of the dummy, exploding outwards and sweeping across it, cloaking it fully in what would have been classified an almighty ember, but Alex could see something in her. Something more. 'Feel the fire Haley!' He pressed on loudly. 'The forest is on fire! Feel the fire on you… surrounding you in it…' Haley stood still, panting heavily as Alex's voice took her away into his fantasy. 'Feel the tongues of flames lick at you… embracing you in it…' His voice trailed mystically into the distance. 'Become one with the fire Haley… You are the fire. The fire is you. Feel its power. The inferno touching you, a part of your soul, the swirling fireball washing over you and immersing itself in your inner being…' As Haley opened her mouth, Alex realised what he had done. He felt the heat before it came. He felt the energy. He had unleashed something incredible. The torrent of fire exploded from Haley's mouth. This was truly a column of fire; the fire was a churning twisting tornado of incredible heat and unstable energy. It totally covered the entire dummy in its circumference. It was not an ember. Somehow, through some unknown technique, Alex had coaxed a Vulpix into using flamethrower. An epic flamethrower. The infernal flood of heat incinerated three dummies in its area of effect, before dying out after a few seconds, leaving the ground scorched and alight with the intensity of the flames.

Alex finally turned towards Haley, an enormous look of awe spread across his face. Haley turned towards Alex. She smiled weakly as she teetered on her feet, and collapsed. Alex didn't rush. He knew something like that would have to take a lot out of her. He smiled a strange smile as he bent down and picked up Haley. She was unconscious. He shook his head, still ecstatic with joy. That inner pyro he held away was brought out once again, inspired by what he had just seen. His Pokémon did that. His partner… He grinned as he looked out to the west, seeing the clouds illuminated with a bloody fiery red on the horizon. The fire on the horizon. The events of today sinking away into history, and making room for the possibilities of tomorrow… he smiled back down at Haley, stroking her fur softly as she lay in his arms.

'Somebody's going to sleep well tonight…'

Little did Alex know, he had unleashed the pyro effect.


	4. The pyro effect

Chapter four

_The pyro effect_

_ᄴᄴᄴᄴ_

_Satan was once an archangel. Then he discovered the fire..._

It was Wednesday. Bloody Wednesday. The midpoint in the week. Boring. **No****…** Alex thought, feeling the weight on his chest. He opened one eye to see Haley asleep, curled up into a ball on his blanket on top of him. She looked so peaceful asleep… as did all Vulpixs.

'Haley…' He whispered, drawing one arm from his bed and sliding it across the covers to Haley. 'Haley… wakey wakey…'

'Mmm…' Haley swatted out lightly at Alex's hand as it came near her. 'Vulpix…' She could identify his scent now, and knew it was him. She felt Alex's hand on her back. It scratched her fur and shook her a bit.

'C'mon. Wake up girl.' Alex sat upright suddenly, causing Haley to fall of his stomach and into his lap with an "_oof__"_ sound, which seemed to be a grunt. 'Can't sleep in or we'll miss school.'

'Vulp_iiiiiix_…' She whined as she looked up at Alex with sad eyes. **I****don****'****t****want****to****…** she thought as she remembered yesterday.

'Alright then. You can stay here with my dad.'

'Vulpix!' Haley shot upright. **Nonono!****Not****him!** She thought desperately. She didn't want to be stuck in here with the demon master. She would rather go with Alex. **He****'****s****nice****to****me****and****he****believes****in****me****… ****he****showed****me****the****fire****…** She nodded, putting on a serious face.

'Ready to tackle the day then?' Alex asked enthusiastically as he gave her another quick scratch on the ear.

'Vulpix!' She exclaimed gleefully. She caught onto Alex's enthusiasm and blew a cone of fire into the air. Though she only made it small on purpose, she was ecstatic she could still maintain her intensity she received yesterday. She just loved watching it as the cone sizzled out into a rain of falling embers. Alex had given her a feel for the fire, so to speak. As she watched it die away she felt she could understand it… comprehend its power and its capability. In truth Alex had instilled a seed of pyromania in her from his own feelings. Alex was once again caught by the flames fluttering into the air over his bed, grinning as their light illuminated his eyes. **My****Pokémon****can****do****this****… ****my****partner****…**

'Now that's the spirit.' Alex told her and ruffled the fur on her head playfully. 'Let's get out there and show them what we can do…' Alex tucked his legs in under his blankets and pulled them out from under the covers. He threw them over the side of his bed and jumped to his feet, grabbing his school uniform off the wardrobe beside him, and he got dressed in a hurry. Haley sat on his bed watching him with little regard for privacy, her six tails floating and wagging. When every male you ever met in your life dropped his pants and shoved his cock in you within minutes of meeting you, privacy was a pretty foreign policy. 'All right, come on then.' Alex called to her as he stood up, finished with tying his laces. He slung his bag over his shoulder as he pushed open his door into the kitchen. He ignored his dad at the table and went straight for the pantry, grabbing a few muesli bars and shoving them into his pockets. Haley wasn't bothered with looking at Jarod either, and just waited at the door for Alex.

'What's with all the food?' Jarod asked without much interest. Alex shrugged back as he headed for the front door.

'Breakfast. Some for me, some for Haley.'

'Haley?' Jarod put his paper down, looking at Alex now. 'You gave it a name?'

'Yeah Jarod, I gave her a name.'

'Why-?'

'Jarod,' Alex held up a hand to silence his dad with an excited grin, excited for what today would bring. For once in his life, he was excited about the day to come. 'I'm going to stop you right there before you make some gayass killjoy comment, coz you ain't screwing over my day, you dirty prick.'

'What?' Jarod stood slowly, pushing his seat away with one foot. 'WHAT!'

'Later motherfucker!' The door smashed into the wall as Alex threw it open with full force, the handle breaking through the wall as Jarod furiously raced after his son and Haley, both of the two grinning madly and laughing crazily as they sprinted out onto the sidewalk and bolted away down it, leaving Jarod behind as he stood at the driveway swearing furiously at them. 'That was awesome!' Alex shouted as he ran, looking down at Haley to see her returned grin as she followed beside him.

'Vulpix-vul!' Haley cried in agreement, baring her teeth a bit as she smiled widely. **That****felt****so****good!** She felt so alive now, and blew a small quantity of fire as she ran, just showing off a bit in her excited state. She could still feel it. She could still feel that power from yesterday. She knew what she could do, and now all she wanted to do was to make more fire. The way Alex reacted to it; he clearly enjoyed seeing her show. The two just continued running, completely forgetting about the school bus. They arrived at school shortly after the bus, still excited after their run to school and headed to class.

'Alright Haley, stay still there…' Alex instructed her as he held up his paper and pencil. Haley nodded, and sat still atop the stool Alex had placed her upon. Alex's art class was doing a unit of quick sketches. Something Alex was particularly good at it.

'Remember Alex, it's a quick sketch.' A man advised over his shoulder as he watched. A Smeargle stood at the teacher's feet, looking around Alex at his paper.

'Got it prof.' Alex answered with a sharp nod, looking up at Haley once more and thinking. He snapped his fingers as an idea popped into his head. 'Yo Haley, can we get a show here?'

'Vulpix!' Haley cried with a grin, then tilted her head back and she joyfully blew a jet of flames into the air, startling the entire class. Alex went to work like lightning. His pencil jumped and flicked across the page, sketching the flame in mere seconds and moving onto the body. His eyes moved back and forth quickly across the page as he went, then he stopped, dropping his pencil audibly on the table and spinning on his stool to face the teacher. 'Done.' The teacher shook his head, pulling himself from the brief surprise of the fire. He took the pad and held it up, sitting beside his view of real Haley.

'Remarkable…' He gasped, comparing the real Vulpix to the picture.

'(Amazing.)' Agreed his Pokémon, crossing his arms and nodding.

'(I'll take that as a compliment.)' Haley said as she hopped down from her stool and trotted towards Alex. 'Vulpix?' She asked as she looked up at Alex. Alex heard her and removed his hands from sitting in his lap. Haley jumped up, landing on his lap as his arms wrapped around her and held her. She turned and took a look at the picture for herself. '(Good.)' She said with a little grin, pawing at the pad. Alex had captured her likeness very well, and she was amazed at how much detail he had put into it, especially for a ten seconds sketch.

'Very good likeness.' Mr Merlin said, reaching his hand out to Haley. She spotted it out of the corner of her eye and immediately backed away, her grin upturning as she growled and bared her teeth at the hand. Mr Merlin took his hand away quickly in surprise, feeling stupid.

'She's a little wary of other people.' Alex told him, patting Haley's head as she sat back down, still glaring at Mr Merlin. 'It's okay Haley. Settle down.' Alex crooned as Haley continued to stare.

'It's weird how much she trusts you though.' Alex looked up from his Pokémon to see human Haley approach, Mr Merlin leaving them to see another student's work. 'You've only had her for how long?'

'This is around our forty eight hour mark.' Alex told her as he continued to pat Haley, whose tails were wagging a bit, but still watched her human namesake cautiously.

'Only forty eight hours?' Human Haley's jaw hung a bit. 'She won't let anybody else even come within two feet of her and look at her!' Alex looked back down at the Vulpix where Haley rested. 'She's all cuddled up to you in your lap.' Alex shrugged, still patting Haley. Haley didn't take that as a bad thing. She would have usually taken that as an insult to her independence, but Alex was a nice guy, and so she didn't mind showing a little affection for what he had done for her in the last two days.

'Maybe I have a wonderful friendly personality.' Alex suggested. Haley gagged a bit, laughing sort-of.

'You have a personality?'

Alex bit his lip a bit, his smile falling from his face as he stared at Haley coldly. 'I'll pretend you didn't just say that.' He suggested with a sort of hiss, sarcasm evident though.

'Well you're not usually this talkative. Or social.'

'I'm having a good day.' Alex said as his grin returned. 'I get all high and social.'

'Did you do something with your hair?' Alex shook his head slowly, unsure of where that came from. 'It looks different.'

'Nup.' Alex answered, holding a strand of hair in his fingers. 'Same ginger ninja as usual.'

'Vulpix?' Haley asked with a little confusion.

'I'm being silly again.' Alex told her as he redoubled his petting her. Human Haley just grunted, looking at his hair for a few more seconds and then returning to her own work.

'(She's weird.)' Haley said as she looked up at Alex, leaning back into his scratching hand and murring.

'She's weird.' Alex said. Haley mentally facepalmed.

'(Where are we going?)' Haley asked as she trotted behind Alex across the field.

'It's lunchtime.' Alex said, unable to understand her question. After all, he couldn't understand Pokémon. 'I don't have class for an hour.' **Not****my****question****…** Haley thought with a sigh as Alex sat in his usual spot against the fence. She sat watching him as he unwrapped another sandwich he bought. He pulled the wrapping off and placed it in front of Haley, then went to unwrapping his own.

'Same place Alex?'

'Same place Tracey.' Haley spun around to see the boy from yesterday. She growled as she saw the Poochyena standing beside him, smirking at her.

'(What are you looking at?)' She snapped angrily, still holding a tremendous grudge. She felt something fire up in her seeing the Pokémon's mocking look.

'(Nothing much.)' He answered cockily, causing Hayley to growl louder.

'What are you doing here kid?' Alex asked as he stood up, placing his sandwich on his bag.

'Fire Pokémon don't like losing.' Tracey answered back. 'I thought I'd give you another shot.'

'Vulpix!' Haley called, accepting the challenge readily.

'Are you sure she's ready?' Tracey asked, observing the growling Vulpix.

'Hell yeah!' Alex called with a wild grin, holding a fist up. 'This time we're going to kick ass! Right Haley?'

'(Hell yeah!)' Haley called, imitating Alex's expression as she stepped forwards and blew another jet of fire.

'And Haley?' Haley ceased in her advancing on her opponent and looked at Alex over her shoulder. He nodded to her and shared a knowing grin. 'Feel the fire.'

'Vulpix!' She exclaimed with a nod, spinning back to the Poochyena as she felt that feeling in her build to a greater level.

'Ember!' Haley threw her mouth open and a stream of fire gushed forth. The Poochyena was taken off guard by the sudden increase of intensity from her attack yesterday, and jumped out of the way at the last second. 'Slam Haley!' The Poochyena had barely landed before the Vulpix was upon him, fuelled by some unknown energy as she moved like lightning. She leapt into the air and spun, hitting him across the face and sending him flying. He had greatly underestimated his opponent. 'Again Haley! Keep on the offense!' Haley leapt towards her fallen opponent full of energy.

'Bite Poochyena!' The Poochyena dodged sideways as Haley's tails swung through the air, then dived in from the behind.

'Vulpix!' Haley cried as the Poochyena bit her shoulder.

'Shake'm off Haley! Use that spirit!' Alex called with a grimace. Haley pried her eyes open, ignoring the pain, she threw her body sideways suddenly. She slammed herself and the Poochyena into the ground. The Poochyena released her upon impact, and the two jumped to their feet facing down, on opposite sides from their trainers.

'Hyper beam!'

'Ember!' The two Pokémon opened their mouths simultaneously. Tracey's dad was a rich guy, and had no doubt bought him a hyper beam TM to use on his Pokémon. A flash of white light exploded from the Poochyena's mouth as a jet of fire came from Haley's. The attacks met in the middle with a sudden burst of orange light, the Pokémon holding their attacks against each other. The hyper beam however was slowly burning through the ember attack. Haley clearly had more special attack ability than Poochyena, but hyper beam was significantly stronger than ember. Haley panicked seeing the hyper beam cut through her attack, and redoubled her efforts. 'Come on Haley! Give it all you have!' Alex cried out to her. 'You can do it! I know what you can do!' Haley opened her mouth more, inspired by Alex's comment. The flame grew larger, holding the hyper beam off a bit better, but it still cut through.

'That was a bad move.' Tracey commented as he watched the two battle, their wills pitted against each other. 'Your attack is too weak. You would have been better to dodge my attack.'

'Fuck you Tracey!' Alex yelled back. 'Don't listen to him Haley! You can win this! I know you can because you're better than this!' Haley heard that thing again. That strange thing which echoed in his voice, that inspiring touch, suddenly fuelling that fire she felt. 'Flamethrower!'

'Flamethrower?' Tracey laughed. 'She can't use-' Haley had finally had enough. All her life she had been told she was weak. Told her she was expected to be nothing more than a good little cock-sucking bitch. Told what she could and couldn't do. And now, finally, somebody had encouraged her. Showed her what she could do… and she had realised her potential. She couldn't let Alex down. Alex felt the heat again, before the attack emerged. As the massive inferno exploded from Haley's mouth, he realised he had overlooked something vital. As the massive wave of fire exploded forth, fuelled by Haley's burning spirit and consuming the terrified little Poochyena as he tried to dodge unsuccessfully, the tornado of fire continued.

Towards him.

'(ALEX!)' Haley screamed, releasing her flamethrower after realising what had happened and charging into the dying blaze. Fear mixed with horror and guilt clouded her head as she ran, tears streaming down he face. Tracey ran also, yelling something as he ran for Alex's previous position. **Oh****no****oh****no****oh****no****I****killed****him!**

*just before flamethrower impact*

Alex stepped back, but was paralyzed by the thing. That surging front of fire surging towards him, those sparkling flames lighting his view as a golden haze. The sheer beauty of the thing captivated him more than anything else he had seen in his life. The wave surging for him. As the massive vortex approached him, something happened. His hand extended, out in front of him to face the approaching attack. Then he spoke. The words just rolled over his lips from nowhere, of their own accord.

'I am alpha.' The blaze utterly consumed him. His eyes were filled with a dark fantasy-like world of fire, scorching and twisting like the vortex which had enclosed him in his dream. And he could feel nothing. He could feel the flames touch his body, licking at him and swooping over him, but he felt no pain. His clothes fluttered in the wave, but didn't even singe.

Haley stopped, her heart skipping a beat as she was confused by what she saw. Alex looked upwards slowly, looking up towards the sun in the sky, and smiled. He was intact. His clothes were intact. He had no burns at all.

'Alex what the hell!' Tracey bawled, looking from Haley to him with disbelief. The grass where the flamethrower had hit was still alight, leaving a trail of fire from where Haley had stood to where Alex was, and past. Alex looked down to the trail of fire, then to Haley, still smiling.

'I felt it Haley…' He whispered just loudly enough for Haley to hear as she ran to him. 'I felt the fire…' Alex's voice drifted out. His eyes began closing, and his legs buckled all of a sudden. He fell to his knees, then onto his front. He lay there unconscious as Haley leapt to his side.

'Vulpix-Vulpix!' She cried into his ear, nudging him with her snout as Tracey knelt opposite. 'Vulpix!'

In a bush nearby, a arm was held straight and rigid towards Alex. Black energy hovered in the air around the hand, and fizzled out eventually and the arm was retracted. A single pair of eyes leered through the foliage at the boy as he fell to his knees, then onto the ground. The man smiled.

'Good boy. The fire is good…'


	5. To wake up as a monster

Chapter 5

To wake up as a monster.

ᄴ╋ᄴ

Don't kid yourself.

We all have our demons.

'Vulpix!'

'Okay, okay! I won't touch him.'

'Vulpix.' First thing Alex saw was a tuft of brown fur. As his eyes opened further, he saw that tuft of fur was connected to a body. Haley. 'Vulpix!' She exclaimed, seeing him awake. She immediately began licking his face affectionately, and nuzzled against his cheek.

'Haley? What?'

'Mr Black, how are you feeling?' Alex turned his head a bit. He was lying down with his head propped up on a pillow. He was in a bed. A hospital bed from the looks of things. Haley was sitting on the blanket next to him. He saw a man in a doctor's coat standing over him holding a clipboard.

'Pretty alright actually.' He said, lifting his arm beneath the blanket and giving a thumbs up, although nobody could see it. 'Where am I and why am I here?'

'Seward street hospital.' The doctor replied as he checked something off on his clipboard. 'As for why you're here, I was hoping you'd be able to tell me that.'

'I just remember a flamethrower.' He said with a shrug and turned to Haley. 'I'm sorry. I really didn't think that through.'

'Vulpix…' Haley said apologetically, leaning her head against Alex's body and whining a little.

'Haley you couldn't have known.' Alex assured her with a little petting. 'You were busy battling. You didn't notice.'

'So this is Tracey Parker, who you were battling?' The doctor stepped aside, revealing the young boy sitting in a chair in the corner of the room. Tracey raised a hand and waved weakly without expression.

'Yeah. That's him.' Alex confirmed looking back at the doctor.

'And you were hit by a flamethrower?' The doctor sounded sceptical, and rightfully so.

'Yeah. It was pretty cool.' The doctor just stared blankly. 'Probably difficult to believe eh?' Alex smiled weakly.

'Mr Black, are you in any pain or suffering from any mental of physical illness?' Alex shook his head. 'Then could I ask you to remove yourself from this ward?'

'No problem.' Alex gently pushed Haley, prompting her to jump off the bed. He pulled the covers back and swung his legs over the edge, and stood up.

'I'm not entirely sure what's going on here…' The doctor started as he scratched his head, reading his clipboard. 'But you're perfectly healthy as far as I can see. Whether you were hit by a flamethrower attack, I am dubious, but I'm happy to just release you and put it to rest.'

'Sounds good.' Alex agreed as Tracey stood also. 'I'll just be leaving before anybody asks any questions.' The doctor sighed and sat in a chair against the wall, motioning for them to leave. Alex didn't wait for another sign, and walked quickly out the door of the room.

'Alex… your hair is red.' Alex stopped, cocking his head with confusion.

'No shit Sherlock.' Alex shot over his shoulder to Tracey. Tracey shook his head, and raised his hand to point at Alex's head.

'No, it's red-red. Like, actual red.'

'Huh?' Alex reached up and took a lock of hair and pulled it down to see it. It was actual red… a dark red. Not ginger, he had red hair. 'Friggin' Arceus! How the hell did this happen?'

'How the hell did you survive that attack?' Tracey demanded suddenly. 'That thing totally K.O'd my Poochyena, how did you come out without a scratch!'

'Magic?' Alex suggested unhelpfully. 'Come on, you're a smart kid, you tell me. I have no idea.' Tracey stood staring, one eyebrow rose as he stared Alex in the eyes. A look of shock spread across his face just beneath his glasses. He seemed about to say something, but stopped himself, and shook his head making a "no more" guesture.

'No. I don't care.' He said sternly. 'You are fucking weird. You are just… I don't want anything to do with whatever this is.' Tracey turned hurriedly and marched away, bickering to himself. Alex threw Haley an innocent look and shrugged.

'What's his problem?'

The sun was setting on the horizon. The sun… one of many in the universe. The Pokémon sighed as she watched the sun disappear slowly. She turned back and headed into the waiting cave she called home for the moment. At the back of the cave was a pile of hay. In the hay, was a pile of fragments of something broken. She had never bothered to clean them up, even after all these years. Forever a reminder to her that even she suffered lapses in her composure and intelligence…

'Boy! Where the fuck have you been?' Alex stopped as he stepped inside, biting his lip angrily. He's a few hours late and his dad throws a bitching fit. Alex was not happy right now. He was feeling sick, dizzy and strange. His dad was kneeling behind a Lucario, grabbing her tail roughly in one hand and thrusting into her ass doggy style as another man held her muzzle on his cock, grabbing her ears roughly. Alex could see her crying.

'Fucking hospital.' Alex winced a bit hearing Haley beside him. He looked down at her as she snuggled in a bit closer to his leg and lowered her head so she wouldn't see the situation. Just seeing this, Alex became angry. Seeing her sadness, the reality suddenly hit him. A reality check. Alex had lived all his life with his dad doing this kind of shit and thought it normal, but now it suddenly hit him, and fuck it hit him hard.

'You get hurt you little pussy?'

'Jarod! Stand the FUCK UP you fucking prick!' Jarod froze in his fucking, glaring at Alex. He loved a prime piece of ass, but he wouldn't let shit fly past him.

'What you little mongrel?' The other man didn't cease, and continued thrusting into the Lucario's mouth as Jarod approached Alex.

'I am fucking sick of this shit!' Alex threw a hand towards the Lucario furiously and seething with anger.

'You've never tried it.' Jarod said with as much innocence as he could muster. 'Give it a try.' He pointed towards the Lucario behind him before turning to Haley. 'Or even your little bitch there could give you-'

'I swear to Arceus, if you finish that sentence I'm going to smash you.'

'-good fuck.' Jarod grinned cruelly as he approached Alex. 'What're you going to do about it?' Alex met his dad, stepping forwards and glaring at him. His dad smiled at first, but Alex could see a hint of something in his eyes. It looked like confusion, mixed with a bit of fear.

'I'm going to show you what happens when you aren't nice to girls.' One hand was on Jarod's throat, the second curled into a fist and connected with Jarod's temple in a split second attack. Alex watched in awe as blood streamed from his dad's head, falling with the rest of his body and landing with a thump on the ground. Haley grinned widely as she saw Jarod hit the ground. Alex stared at the unconscious body with disbelief at what he had just done. He felt uncertainty, a little fear, but fuck he felt good. That moment of impact with his fist and his dad's head just sparked a high of exhilaration. The man beside the Lucario had seen this, and was already on his feet, tucking his man parts away as he backed off fearfully. 'That's right motherfucker. Run home.' Alex called after him with a small nod as he turned and ran.

'Cario…' Alex had almost forgotten the Lucario lying on the ground in front of him. Her strength had deserted her and she was now lying on her stomach, naked, sore and a little bloody. Alex didn't understand where this came from, but he just moved towards her without meaning to. The Lucario gave him a fearful look as she saw him approach. 'Lucario…' She sniffed as she recognised Alex, tears still streaming from her eyes.

'Hey girl.' Alex crooned as he knelt beside her, placing one hand on the back of her head gently. He put one hand under her softly and rolled her onto her back. The Lucario knew Alex, and knew she could trust him to make her better, as he had done on numerous occasions. Alex's hands scooped her up, one arm wrapping under her torso and the other around her thighs. He lifted her up and began back to his room. The Lucario sniffed, watching his eyes with sadness and curiosity. She had never noticed Alex had red eyes. In an unexpected move, Alex leant a bit closer to her, moving into her neck. She allowed him to do whatever, trusting him. He moved in and gently kissed her neck, rubbing her thigh a bit with his hand, and kissed her neck again in a strange but comforting way. 'You're a good girl, don't listen to what they say.' Haley watched this with a strange feeling growing in her, especially when he leaned in and kissed the Lucario. She was feeling jealous…

Fire whipped through the air, slicing between Alex and the egg in a wave, washing away the image as the flames spiralled around in a column. Alex stumbled backwards, the fire of the wall spinning around him and enclosing him in an infernal twister column around his body. A thin beam of light cut down, jutting out of the darkness above down the centre of the twister and onto Alex's face as he gazed about himself, his white skin illuminated by the twisting red and white lights about him. The dancing blaze was reflected in his eyes, held set strongly in a gaze of dark fascination. The fire…. The heat he was feeling… the raw power of the flames, how they moved, live they lived… The fire closed in on him, the column dragging its orange and crimson body of energy across his skin in an intense feeling of inner warmth as it became one with him…

_I am alpha, I am omega…_

_I am Alex._

Alex raised one hand. The column burst. The column exploded into a shockwave, flames and blazes disappearing into the surrounding darkness. There were no fires now. There was just Alex and  
>Jarod and the darkness.<p>

'Looks like you found your true self.' Jarod said in a level tone, staring strongly at Alex.

'I did.' Alex moved one hand to point at his dad, alight with a white blaze. 'And my true self does not like you.' Alex threw the fireball.

'_Mmmuuurrr__…'_ Alex heard from beside him. He saw Haley to his right, lying under his blanket snuggled right up to him with her little head resting on the bottom of his pillow. He now turned left, feeling something there. There was the Lucario. She was also lying in his bed with him, her head resting on his left shoulder and holding his left arm with her paws. She had been pretty screwed up, and she was tired after Alex tended to her last night, and so she had evidently fallen asleep beside him. Or moved into his bed with him. Alex laid back with a grin, enjoying the feel of the two Pokémon, one on either side of him with their furry bodies against him. He was still surprised with himself for last night. **Seriously?****Kissing****her****on****the****neck?****WTF?****What****am****I****trying****to****do?** He sighed, looking across at Haley. He reached his right hand down and stroked her back softly. Slowly and gently, he pulled his left hand from Lucario's grip, careful not to wake her, and moved his shoulder out from under her, lowering her head onto his pillow. He pulled himself out from under his blankets without throwing them back, leaving the blanket on the Pokémon.

It was early. Jarod would be asleep, whether he had woken up from that punch or not. Alex rubbed his eyes tiredly as he dragged himself out of his room, not bothering to change. He walked into the bathroom and twisted the shower knob, then closed the door behind him. Before unchanging for a shower, he moved to the basin. He drew some cold water in the basin and scooped it up, throwing it onto his face and rubbing it in. he wiped his wet hair out of the way as he looked up and saw himself in the mirror. He leaned closer, unsure of what he just saw.

'What the hell?' He pressed his face into the glass, looking at his eyes. They were red. They were actually red. And so was his hair. He had gone from brown eyes and ginger-brown hair to red and red. Even his skin had a slightly darker tint to it. His hair stuck up also, it was spikey and wavy and… Alex swung his hand, hitting himself in the face painfully. It hurt. **Not****a****dream****…** He thought as he turned his head to get some different angles on himself. **Cool****…** He smiled a bit seeing his new face. This week was going to be interesting.

'Hey people!' The students on the bus looked up as Alex leapt up the steps, a huge smile spread across his face. He strode down the aisle with an air of confidence he had never felt before. After him came a Lucario (Dubbed Teri, by Alex) and Haley. Haley was the first to leap up onto the seat and onto Alex's lap to leave the other side of the seat free for Teri. Alex had decided it best to bring Teri along with him. He didn't want her to be left at home. Alex's dad wasn't awake still, and he wouldn't be very happy when he woke up.

'What did you do with your hair?' Human Haley asked as she leaned over the seat in front of him with a smile.

'S'red.' He ran his fingers through his hair while maintaining his smile. 'Fiery eh?'

'Sort of.' Haley said as she looked across at Teri.

'Teri.' Alex answered before Human Haley asked. Teri gave a weak wave.

'Why are your Pokémon so shy?' Haley asked suddenly. Most Pokémon were a little friendlier. Alex's smile dropped, and he stared at human Haley with a serious look.

'Haley, where do you think I got these two from?' Haley did her best to pretend to think about that, but all the while she had suspicions.

'I don't know.'

'Haley.' Alex said with a quick shake of his head. 'I know you know. And you're right.' Haley just nodded slowly, a few uncomfortable thoughts entering her head. 'I can't blame them for not liking a lot of people.' With that he gave both Pokémon a scratch on the ear. 'But let's not talk like that. There's heaps to look forwards to today.' Alex's smile returned with human Haley's.

'You've really changed.' She commented before lowering herself back into her seat. **Damn****right****I****have.** Alex thought with a sense of inner peace. His life was finally becoming his own now. And today was going to be awesome.

'This is not cool.' Alex muttered into his desk as he sat with his face down on it. At the front of the room Mr Hanson drabbled about some quadratic theory or something like that. **This****is****so****boring****…** Haley and Teri seemed to be effected similarly, sitting on chairs either side of Alex and looking rather bored. 'Haley, do you understand any of this shit?'

'Vulpix.' Haley shook her head a little.

'Teri?'

'Cario.' No.

'Aaww… this is so lame…' Alex lifted his head to look out the window briefly, wishing he could be outside playing sport or something. He lowered his head again, falling into a daydream of a happier place…

'Alex. Come join me.' Alex's eyes burst open, a light of sorts pertaining from somewhere… But he saw fire. The unmistakeable tongues of flames which licked at his dreams, so hot they burned… or perhaps they weren't hot… perhaps it was a lie, like the rest of his life… perhaps they weren't flames at all… no… they were like flames in his other dreams… they were so real… they had to be fire… they were fire… but now it had a voice… 'Alex.' It says. Alex's shoulder sunk back as he turned, barely peeping over his shoulder behind him. There was a man there. His shadowy blurry body seemed to be cloaked in darkness, yet the light of flames lit up his outline and his hair caught the colour of the fire…

'Who are you?' Alex's already crackly voice managed, keeping calm despite the multitude of confused queries flooding his head. The man turned. His outstretched hand held a flame. A small, blood red flame contained in the palm of his hand, a flame which yielded no light to give the figure a face. 'You?' The figure nodded. 'You're… you're me?' Alex's head fell, locating the flame in his own hands now. He blinked quickly as he tried to come to terms with what was happening, but in that instant he blinked in uncertainty, the fire was gone, replaced by an egg. Perfectly white, large, about eight inches high, yet the pure white shone with a fiery tinge. The fire didn't just touch it, it tainted it. The reflected fire rose, leaving a red of its visual duplicate, but as the reflection fell, the red remained, like a stain. It was warm in his hands. It was alive. It was living. It was getting hotter in his hands, he could feel energy building inside of it. It shook, a crack appearing on top. The crack spread with the next shake, Alex leant closer to see it, curious to see what would emerge.

It exploded.

'Alex!'

'Whah!' Alex's eyes burst open, and he was immediately confronted with a wall of flames. 'What the hell?' Alex leapt out of his chair, looking around the burning maths class in shock and disbelief. He looked down and saw Haley tugging on his sock with her teeth. He spun and saw human Haley behind him.

'The place just burst into flames! Come on!' Haley made a run for the door, motioning for Alex to follow. Alex did a quick head count, seeing Teri and Haley and followed. Flames crawled up walls everywhere; everything was on fire, save the floor. The corridor screamed with noise and panic as students pushed and shoved their way to fire exits. Alex quickly scooped Haley up in his arms and made a dash, rushing into the crowd with Teri in tow.

'How did this happen?' He demanded as he ducked under a plume of smoke and chased human Haley.

'The walls just burst into flames!' She cried over her shoulder as she pushed through the fire exit and went outside. Alex barged his way through after her. 'It started in our room, and then everything else caught!' Human Haley spun around to face the school, almost falling over backwards as she saw it. 'Arceus…' Alex stood beside her, staring in shock and awe. The place was just one massive blaze.

'Rather suspicious fire.' Alex turned left quickly to see who had spoken. It was Mr Merlin, the art teacher. His Smeargle stood at his side, watching the fire. 'Wouldn't you agree?' Mr Merlin finally looked at Alex, raising an eyebrow as he stared. Alex opened his mouth, but there was something in that look, and he shut it.

'What do you know?' Alex demanded as he stepped towards the teacher with a curious look. His two Pokémon noticed his move and followed after him.

'I know a lot Alex.' Mr Merlin said with a serious tone. 'I know all about you. I know what you are.' He turned around, looking towards a SUV in the school car park. 'Come with me.'

'No thanks.' Alex stepped back and shook his head, glaring at the teacher suspiciously. 'Why would i?' Mr Merlin didn't respond for a few seconds, and then finally reached into his pocket. Alex flinched as he took something out, but he realised it was just a piece of paper. He held it towards Alex. Alex looked from the paper to the teacher, then took it and observed it closely. It was a small square piece of paper, and drawn on it was a stool. A stool lying on its side. 'What's this?'

'It's your picture.'

'It's not my picture.' Alex said as he shook his head. 'I drew a Vulpix sitting on a stool. That stool isn't standing up and there's no Vulpix.'

'That's because she knocked it over.' Alex raised an eyebrow as he stared at his teacher. 'As for the Vulpix. She's hiding.'

'She's hiding?' Alex said with accusing disbelief. Mr Merlin reached out for the paper and took it back, then removed a pencil.

'Watch.' He put the pencil to the paper and quickly sketched something. A bunch of Razz berries by the looks of it, lying on the ground. There was suddenly something black at the side of the page. It took its time, but soon entered the picture as Alex gaped, still in disbelief. A sketched Vulpix, not rendered or coloured, walked into the picture from the side, and began eating the berries. 'She's rather shy actually.' Mr Merlin explained as he held the pad lower so Haley could see it.

'How did you do that?' Alex's voice shook as he spoke. There was just too much going through his head now. Surviving a direct flamethrower, his hair and eyes turning red, his dream burning the school and now pictures coming to life.

'I didn't do anything.' Mr Merlin put the pad away in his pocket, and then began walking away towards his SUV. 'You did that.' Alex stood and stared as the teacher made a hasty exit, shooting away in his vehicle suddenly.

'(What the heck?)' Haley said with a disbelieving shake of her head.

'(What did Alex do?)' Haley looked up at Teri beside her.

'(What do you mean?)'

'(In the classroom.)'

'(What?)'

'(His aura fired up when he was asleep.)' Teri explained as she gazed at Alex, who had his back turned to the two. '(His aura fire set the room on fire.)'

'(What?)' Teri nodded.

'(Do you know something about this?)'

'(He likes fire.)' Haley said simply. '(That's it. He really likes fire.)'

Alex sighed, finally having reached home. He pushed open the front door and threw his bag inside the door. Teri came in last and closed the door.

'Your school's on fire.' Alex stopped in mid-pace, hearing Jarod's voice.

'I know dad. I was there.'

'Watch this.' Alex looked at the TV screen as his the news report detailed the incident.

'… _no__damage__at__all,__baffling__even__the__fire__department.__'_ The woman on the TV stood in front of the school, which now was no longer on fire. _'__In__fact,__most__reports__detail__a__distinct__ "__freshness__" __of__the__place.__This__situation__already__has__the__world__asking__questions.__ "__How__does__fire__leave__no__damage?__" __and__ "__Is__this__a__miracle?__" __being__among__them.__Nobody__as__of__yet__can__shed__light__on__the__situation,__but__one__thing__is__set__in__concrete.__Veilstone__south-central__high__was__set__ablaze__at__2:25__PM__today,__the__blaze__raged__for__five__hours__and__was__reported__to__have__ "__completely__engulfed__the__building__"__.__And__the__entire__school__is__completely__unscathed.__No__damage.__No__textbooks__burnt.__Not__even__a__scorch__mark.__'_

'There was no damage at all.' Jarod explained as he continued to stare at the screen. 'The news bitch said the paint even looks fresh now. Everything looks better somehow.'

'What the fuck?' Alex shook his head, walking towards the screen slowly.

'This was you wasn't it?' Jarod asked softly.

'I didn't do anything!' Alex shot back defensively, causing his Pokémon to jump at his outburst.

'Don't bullshit me kid! You're the only one who could do it!' Came his dad's response as he leapt to his feet and pointed accusingly. 'It's all your bitch mum Eiyvanaa!' Alex was about to shout back, but his dad's last comment left him silent.

'… My mum?'

'Fuck it!' Jarod smacked the wall heavily with his fist, breathing heavily and now slightly oblivious to the outside world in his rage. 'How the fuck could I have known I'd knock up a fucking Pokémon!'

'A what!'


	6. Shattered

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.

That is all.

Actually, it isn't all. I love writing little things at the beginning of my stories. So here I go…

Yeah…

I got nothing.

On another note…

RETRO CHARGE! HYYYAAAAAA!

Jaiden =*picture of Gnasher Shotgun*=Ajay

CHAT

Ajay (ENEMY/COG): **** YOU! YOU ****ING PIECE OF ****! WHERE THE **** DID YOU GET AMMO FOR THAT YOU DIRTY PIECE OF ****! YOU CAN'T JUST LET ME MOTHER****ING STAB YOU ONE ****ING TIME!

**SERVER==::::Ajay46 (ENEMY/COG) **has been muted for over-bitching.

Jaidenthebeast (ALLY/LOCUST): Rofl. What a noob.

**SERVER==::::Destr0yer!X! (ALLY/LOCUST)** has muted to laugh at **Ajay** for being such an epic fail.

**SERVER==::::Ajay (ENEMY/COG)** has left the game. Fine. We didn't want you anyway. Have a cry.

TheTh1rdpartyVII (ENEMY/COG): Hi guzy! XD

**SERVER==::::TheTh1rdpartyVII (ENEMY/COG)** has been muted for not saying something funny. Btw, that's not how you spell "guys". Damn noobs. AMIRITE?

Chapter six

Shattered.

_._

You step on a mine.

Next thing you know, you're in pieces, strewn all across the world you thought you once knew. You've read all the maps they gave you. You've seen the diagrams and studied the locations. You thought you knew where all the traps lay and you tread carefully in those areas, stepping around and slipping through unscathed. Even with all those pitfalls, you knew your way around, and thought there was nothing that could surprise you.

You Were Wrong.

Alex couldn't get to sleep. Who could blame him? He wasn't calm, he was anxious. Hell was he. He didn't feel right. He felt different. He had thought of himself as one way for his whole life, and now he was suddenly something different. His dad had absolutely shut down after that last comment, leaving Alex in a state of shock and disbelief being told his mother was a Pokémon.

'How can this be possible?' Alex shook his head, still in disbelief as he patted Haley in his lap. She leaned back into him comfortingly. Teri sat on his bed opposite him, cross legged like he was. She also was a little distraught, she could feel his aura on her, and it was uneasy and restless. It was jumpy and wavy.

'(Maybe it's not.)' Haley suggested hopefully, as if he could hear her and believe her, just to cheer him up.

'(It is.)' Teri replied unhelpfully.

'(Shut up.)'

'(Sorry.)' Teri's head drooped, looking down into her lap. '(But I can feel it. His aura. He's got some Pokémon in him.)'

'(Well what Pokémon?)' Teri shrugged hopelessly. Haley felt Alex move under her and hopped off as he drew his legs back and slid them under the covers. She promptly jumped onto his chest and sat there, looking at his head as he closed his eyes. She stuck her tongue out and gave him a well-meaning lick on the chin to comfort him.

'Thanks Haley.' He whispered as he tried to put his concern aside. He couldn't. He tried to sleep but it wasn't working. 'Damn… what does this mean?' He mumbled. 'Am I a person or a Pokémon?'

'(You're Alex.)' Haley said as she licked him once again and nuzzled up into his neck and lay there murring. '(That's good enough for me.)'

Once again, it was morning. Alex was relieved that he had somehow fallen asleep despite all that was racing through his mind. Maybe Haley helped him. The feel of her furry body on him was rather soothing. When he woke, he found Haley snuggled up close as she had been last night. She was lying beside him under the covers right against his body with her head sticking out, lying on the pillow beside him. Teri on the other hand was lying compromisingly on the other side of him. She too was snuggled up close to him but with one leg draped across his and her arm lying across his torso. Really close to him with her head lying on his shoulder. At first Alex was a little confused, but he managed to ease the thought. She was lonely. She needed a good hug. He moved one arm around her neck and let it lie on her side, pulling her a little closer while his other arm stroked Haley lightly. Maybe he could do this without feeling weird. He was sleeping in a bed with two Pokémon, which was weird. But if he was some kind of Pokémon… was that… no… that was still a little weird. A little weird, but then again who cares? How he slept wasn't the world's problem. Though, he still felt that maybe this was wrong… but it didn't feel like it.

'Wakey wakey…' He shook both Pokémon a little, pulling them free of their dreams. 'C'mon. wake up you two.' Haley woke up with her now usual murr sound as Alex gave her a scratch. Teri just moved in a bit closer without realising it. She just felt something warm and went for it and hugged it. 'Um… Teri..? Personal space…' Teri jumped back all of a sudden as she realised what she was doing, going red In surprise.

'(Sorry…)' She muttered sheepishly as Alex continued to look at her with varying expressions.

'Hey, I's just kidding.' He reassured her with a smile. 'Don't worry about it. If it makes you feel comfortable, go ahead. It's fine by me.' He held one arm out on the mattress invitingly. **Really? REALLY? You'd actually let her sleep like that every night? Yeah, I would. If it makes her comfortable, I will. Do you just feel like you can do this because Jarod says you're part Pokémon? Do you even believe him?** Teri almost went for it. She almost lay back down on Alex's arm and lay against him to be warm, but she was still a little too embarrassed and the look Haley threw her didn't do her any favours. 'Suit yourself.' Alex shrugged his blankets off and sat up. 'Can't be sleeping in I guess.' He got dressed into his uniform ready for the last day of the week, and was unsure of what today held in store for him. Although the school was set ablaze, it was still intact and there was no threat present, so the school board left the school open. Yippee-fucking-kaiaai.

Jarod was awake, as usual. He didn't say anything as Alex entered. He didn't even look up from his paper. Alex grabbed some muesli bars for his Pokémon and him and left his dad alone to his thoughts. Today, it was raining. Alex stood at the side of the road in the rain as he waited. He should have waited under cover, but there was something about the rain. It was nice and cool. He rather enjoyed it. He was still lost though when it came to what his dad said last night though. If he really was a Pokémon, or even part Pokémon, would that affect his day-to-day life? **Only if I let it.** He decided as the bus pulled up. He stepped inside and shook his hair a bit, pissing off a few people as the droplets hit them. **Damn. Shaking myself off… that's a Pokémon thing…** he did his best to ignore the thoughts and sat in his usual seat behind human Haley.

'That was weird yesterday, huh?'

'I'd say.' Alex confirmed with a nod, finally seeing Haley's blond locks turn around so that he could see her face. 'Everything turn out alright for you?'

'Not a scratch.' She said with a suspicious edge to her voice. 'Just like the rest of the school.'

'Yeah, that's weird eh?'

'Eh.' She responded as her hair bounced with her nodding head. 'They say it started in our class.'

'Says who?'

'Witnesses.' Haley whispered as she looked around still suspicious. 'They're not even sure if they can prosecute if they find anybody who did it, since there's no damage.'

'Eh?'

'Eh.'

Alex and Haley's meaningless conversation lasted the rest of the short trip to school, where they parted ways for the ten minutes before class began.

The really strange thing was the school. There was just something strange about it. Alex could smell it… it smelt fresh. The paint looked fresh and glossy. Flowers were all in full bloom. There had just been a fire and the place seemed as new as it had ever been.

'Alex. How are things going?'

'Oh.' Alex murmured as he saw a young boy walking beside him. 'Hey Tracey.' Tracey. The kid Alex had been battling against. 'Weird, as you can imagine.'

'I would think so.' Tracey said with a knowing nod. 'Know anything about that flamethrower incident?'

'Huh, yeah, it's an incident to you coz' you lost.' Alex smiled a bit, but Tracey was still focussed on the matter at hand.

'You got hit by it too, remember?'

'Do I resemble a Pokémon in any way?' Tracey didn't answer for a second as he took that in unsurely.

'Not really…' He answered. 'Why?'

'No reason.' Alex split off to head for maths and left Tracey standing there, rather confused.

When Alex arrived in art, there was a message on the blackboard from Mr Merlin. "Have business to attend to. Will return halfway through period" and there was some set work to do.

'Hey Alex! Who's your friend?' Alex ignored the question and continued painting. He had Haley and Teri in front of him. Teri was lying on a desk which was dressed up like a bed, with a white cloth over her body, Haley was at the foot of her desk/bed and holding still. It was one of those Romanesque scenes. Chick lying on bed with grapes over her mouth. Of course, Alex didn't have any grapes with him, and so he was just painting them in himself from memory. He couldn't help but think: **Damn… she looks great.** He shook his head again. **Don't think that… that's weird…**

'Nice ass on that one.' Alex cringed, biting his lip and clenching his eyes shut. 'Alex! Need some cash? Coz' I'm feeling a little stressed today and I reckon that bitch would do just the trick…' He swore very quietly. Could not take this. He could see Teri's expression fall a bit as she began to feel uncomfortable under the gazes of the other boys. There was something which had snapped in him Wednesday night when he saw his dad fucking Teri. Something finally hit him, and reality sunk in.

'Teri, Haley… I want you to know something.' He said quietly as a few whistles were heard from a group of boys, stinging his ears. 'That life you've lived for the past years of your life ends right now.' The two Pokémon looked at one another with confusion. 'All the torment, all the names, the hurt, the abuse, it all ends right now.' He stood up and kicked his stool out, almost causing it to fall over. The boys looked up and laughed as Alex came towards them quietly with a serious look on his face.

'Look out guys, Shadey's gonna kick our asses.' One boy laughed and nudged his friend in the ribs.

'Not yet.' Alex said as he came to a stop in the middle of them. There were six of them. Two in front of him, two on his right and two on his left. 'So lay the fuck off and I won't deck the lot of you.'

'You'll deck all of us?' The lead guy laughed. 'Fuck, that's rich. There's six of us and one of you.' He observed as he leaned forwards on his stool. 'Unless you get your sex slaves to join you.'

'They're not my sex slaves.' Alex said calmly. 'And I believe you counted wrong. It's five against one.' The boy blinked in confusion, then quickly looked around his group and laughed.

'Wow, you really are dumb.' He remarked. 'Six dumbass. Would you like me to count for you?'

'Yes please.' Alex said pleasantly with a nod. 'But count real slow-like or I won't be able to keep up.' The other boys laughed even harder. **That's it… just keep laughing while you can still move your jaws…**

'All right then.' The boy pointed at one of the boy's to his right. 'One…' He pointed at the next. 'Two…' He pointed at himself. 'Three…' Still counting slowly, he pointed to the boy just on his left. 'Four…' Then he pointed at the one of two boys on his left. 'Five…'

Alex lashed out at that last second, hitting the sixth boy square in the jaw and sending him flying over his desk backwards with a bloody face.

'Told you so.' Alex smirked as the other boys gawked. 'Five.'

'GET HIM!' Then shit hit the fan. Alex swung his fist into the fifth boy and sent him reeling off his chair to the floor, then swung into the fourth. The leader of the group was the first to attack Alex, kicking at him as he came off his chair. Alex feinted left and hit him in the jaw with an uppercut, then spun right around to land a solid elbow bash as a fist hit him across the face. His world spun and he hit the floor as a boy raised his leg. **Curb stomp! Shit!** Alex moved his head aside as the boy's foot caught him painfully in the ear. He rolled onto his stomach and began to get up as a dirty kick landed painfully, dropping him again. **C'MON CMON DAMMIT GET UP! **He clambered to his feet as another punch came his way, hitting him in the face. He stumbled backwards into a desk as his vision went funny, blurring severely as five of the boys advanced slowly. 'What's wrong Alex? You can't stick up for your little sluts?' **Sluts…** he thought angrily as he doubled over. **Not sluts… my friends…** he felt a sharp pang of pain in his torso… it was… it was weird. Was it actually pain..? no… it was a pain In his heart… **They're better than that…** he thought to himself as he groggily regained his balance. **They deserve more than that… they deserve more than me… a worthless nobody with a crazy sick pimp for a dad…** he opened his eyes again. **My life sucks.** He realised. **I've done all that I can to make my life good and normal and I can't do it right. My life sucks…** he thought to what he had said… on the bus… If he really was a Pokémon, or even part Pokémon, would that affect his day-to-day life? **Only if I let it… only if I let it…** he took one fateful look at his Pokémon as the boys closed in. His friends… his Pokémon… he couldn't see them properly, but they were running for him. His new best friends were Pokémon… **It will affect my life… only if I let it…**

He gave up.

He didn't "give-up" give up and concede to the boys, he gave up on his fight and conceded with himself.** So what if I'm a Pokémon? My best friends are Pokémon… what is wrong with that?**

'WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THAT!' The boys stopped short in mid pace, staring. 'You filthy pieces of shit…' Alex shook his head slowly. 'You fucked with the wrong pyro.' His fists glowed with energy, alight and blazing furiously. With each breath the flames grew for a second, then died back down. 'I'm gonna burn you.' Alex dived into them furiously. A few had the sense to jump back, but two went for him. Alex swung one flaming fist into a guy and that was it. Game over. The next guy was slammed ruthlessly with a blaze kick to the torso, sending him flying clear across the room into a desk and breaking several ribs. Alex swung another half-dozen fire punches into the next three and dispatched them with unnecessary force, breaking two's jaws, dislocating two's shoulders and breaking a dozen ribs in the process. He looked around himself in a panic as the class's attention was focussed on him, gasps and whispers shared between them as they stared at him and his fists. Then, he went black…

'He's waking up…'

'Good. Now maybe we can get something out of him.'

'Whuh?' Light hurt Alex's eyes as he opened them. There was a harsh light shining on him from above. Two figures, one on either side of him blocked out the light.

'Alex Black. AKA Shadey. Nice of you to join us.' Alex tried to sit upright, but he couldn't move. His body wouldn't respond. 'Please don't fight the sedative. We won't try to harm you, we would just like to talk.'

'Who are you?' He asked weakly, squinting to get better views of the people.

'You may call us, the sector.'

'The sector?' As the light dulled in Alex's eyes, he saw the people. A man and a woman. Black suits, and badges. 'Oh crap… you're government people…' The woman looked across at the man, who nodded.

'Yes. We are.' The woman told him.

'You're going to dissect me and shit, aren't you?'

'Not at all.' The woman assured him. 'We're just going to-'

'Where's Haley?' The woman looked up at the man for support.

'The Lucario?' he asked.

'The Vulpix.'

'The Vulpix is being contained in another room.'

'I want to see her.'

'You can't.'

'Fuck you.' Alex tried to sit up again without success. All he could so was talk and look at the white ceiling above him. 'Where are we?'

'Please remain calm Mr Black. This is the facility.'

'How the fuck did I get here?' He demanded with another attempt to sit upright.

'You passed out at school. Then we brought you to us.'

'Well what the fuck do you want?' Alex tried again to move.

'We just want you to talk to us a little.' The woman said. 'Answer a few questions.'

'Then what?'

'Then we can act accordingly.' Alex groaned as he tried to pull upright again. 'There's really no point. You can't break free. The sedative is immobilising you.'

'Just ask your fucking questions and get me out.' He grunted. Alex was confused, alone with these people and he wanted answers. The woman disappeared from view and returned with a pad of paper and a tape recorder.

'Firstly, what do you know of your dad?'

'He's a faggot. Next.'

'We're going to need a little more than that.' Alex sighed, still trying to sit up.

'Well what do you want to hear, huh?' He demanded frustratedly. 'He's a fucking illegal Pokémon sex slave driver and he has dozens of them locked up in his basement. Is that fucking good enough?'

'That will suffice.' The woman said. 'Next question. You were admitted to St Charles general hospital two days ago. What was the nature of your injuries?'

'Friggin Arceus, what is this, twenty questions or something!' He demanded. 'Fine then. There was a flamethrower and it hit me and I woke up in hospital with red hair and no injuries. The end.' The woman leaned across to the man and whispered, but Alex just picked it up.

'_He's becoming aggravated, should I boost the sedatives?'_

'BOOST THE FUCKING SEDATIVES?' he yelled. 'I'm barely fucking awake as it is!'

'He's right. Just continue.' The man advised.

'Next question then. How did you manage to fight all six of those boys on your own?'

'Oh I hate this government crap…' Alex murmured as he still struggled. 'Look, let me just fucking tell you what you want to hear, okay? I'm a fucking pyromaniac. I fucking love fire. I went crazy and fiery and fought five guys with magical fucking fire powers I seem to have because since my dad's such a fucking sick bastard he knocked up a FUCKING Pokémon IS THAT GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU!' He roared as he tried to jerk himself upright again.

'You're not going anywhere Mr Black.' The woman advised him calmly. 'The sedatives we gave you will supress any movement or any fire abilities you may control.'

'Fuck off they will.' Alex warned darkly. 'Fire beats anything you throw at it.'

'Is that so?' The man interrupted as-a-matter-of-factly. 'What about water, and ground types?'

'They don't beat it…' Alex warned again. 'Fire and water is steam. Steam is a form of fire. Fire and ground make lava. Lava is a form of fire. Fire finds a way to get out, and if you try contain it it'll just fucking explode in your fucking faces, and I've sure as hell got a lot of fire in me right now.' The two looked at each other with confusion. 'Now, let me out, and let me see me Pokémon.' He commanded. 'Or I will explode in your fucking faces and you won't like that will you?' The woman looked for help in the man. She felt frightened all of a sudden; this strange boy's threats suddenly carried the weight of the world with them. The man was the same way.

'Alright, we'll let you out.' The man conceded. 'We're going to give you more of the sedative. You'll wake up in a few hours, and then you can see your Pokémon.'

'Who the fuck are you!' Alex barked as the man exited his window of vision. 'Who the fuck gives you the right to do… to do this… who give you…' Alex was going dizzy now… 'gives you the riii… to me…'

'_Wake up Mr Black.'_

'What?' Alex was awake suddenly. He realised where he was when he noticed the absence of fur against his body from Haley. He stood up as he took in his surroundings. He was in a cell. A toilet, a bed and a giant window in one wall, where there were a dozen people in lab coats watching him. 'Who the fuck are you?' The scientists all looked to one another and chatted quickly. 'Hey! Answer me!' They didn't. 'Fuck you all. Where's Haley?'

'Vulpix!'

'Haley!' Alex dashed for the window as he caught sight of Haley in a corner of the room. He scooped her up in his arms and cradled her. 'Are you alright? Did they hurt you? I swear to god if they hurt you…' Haley didn't move. She was still paralyzed. 'You bastards! What are you doing?' The scientists didn't respond. Alex gritted his teeth as that feeling grew within him. The scientists weren't even paying attention. 'Hey! I'm talking to you!' He threw an arm in his rage, a spark bursting from his fingertips and exploding against the window, startling all of them. 'Yeah, that's right!' He shouted as he raised a flaming fist. 'Everybody look at the pretty fire. Now what the fuck's going on?' The scientists all looked at one another for help, but they were all under orders to simply observe and discuss. 'Hey! Somebody!' They didn't respond. Alex turned away from them cursing to himself, placing Haley in his lap. 'Are you alright?'

'Vulpix.' Haley nodded as feeling began to return to her body.

'Do you know where we are?' Haley shook her head. 'Do you know how we got here?'

*Some hours earlier*

'(Alex!)' Haley doubled her pace and skidded to a stop beside Alex as he hit the ground.

'(What happened?)' Teri demanded as she crouched beside Haley with growing fear. The rest of the class was gathered around Alex also.

'Holey shit! He killed Donald!'

'He was on fire!'

'Maybe it was the Pokémon!'

'I'm calling the police!'

'(Alex wake up!)' Haley called to him with teary eyes, nudging him with her nose. '(Wake up!)'

'…_and he just set his fists on fire and beat them all up and we think one of them is dead!'_

'_ma'am, please remain calm. Now who set their fists on fire?'_

'_Alex Black! This guy in our class. He was fighting with them, set his fists on fire and bam! He took them all out! He kicked Donald clear across the room with one hit! He's like some freak! And then afterwards he just fell unconscious and now his Vulpix and Lucario are-'_ The sound cut off. A man sitting in a dark van looked across at his co-worker. The windows in the van were tinted so heavily they were fully opaque. There were computer screens and devices set up to monitor things.

'This sounds like it could be it.' The man said with a nod.

'If they're telling the truth.' The woman confirmed as she stood up. In the dim light of their computer screens, it was unmistakeable that she was wearing a police uniform. 'Shall we?'

'We are.' The man confirmed as he tapped at keys on his keyboard. The woman meanwhile, climbed into the driver's seat and strapped in.

'Where are we heading?'

'St Charles College.'

*thirty minutes later*

'Sorry I'm late class, but i…' The white-haired man stopped as he entered the room. Students were lined up against the back wall of class and being questioned by a police officer and there was yellow tape everywhere. 'Hey, what happened in here?'

'Timothy Merlin?' An officer approached the man holding a pad of paper.

'Yes, that's me, now what's going on in here?'

'Constable Jericho Adams.' He held up a badge. 'We have detained one "Alex Black" on suspicions of manslaughter. The killing of Donald Jacobs.'

'What!' Thoughts raced through merlin's head as he tried to piece things together. 'What's going on?'

'The victim appears to have severe impact damage and burns to his torso. The students in your class seem to think Mr Black "kicked him with flaming feet and sent him flying across the fucking room" ' he read from his pad. Merlin's heart skipped a beat. 'Officers Davis and Gibson have detained him and taken him for questioning. **Shit…**

'Where would Mr Black be now?' Merlin asked quickly. The officer looked down at his pad thoughtfully.

'He was found unconscious and he and his Pokémon have been taken into custody.'

'Shit!' Merlin spun on his heel and charged out of the room as the policemen gave chase somewhat.

'Wait! Where are you going?' The policemen called after him as he stood in the doorway. He considered pursuing, but thought better of it.

'I'm too late dammit!' Merlin growled as he ran.


	7. Survival of the fittest

Chapter seven.

Survival. Of. The. Fittest.

The Darwin theory? The physically and mentally strongest survive? Really? You're shitting me.

If he's all so fucking smart, then why's he dead?

'_Wakey wakey Mr Black.'_ It was the woman from when he first woke up.

'Fuck you.' Alex threw randomly as he hugged Haley tighter to his body. She did not object. On the other side of him was Teri, though nobody knew how she arrived, including her. The three of them all cuddled up in a single bed and sharing warmth.

'_You don't want to miss out on this Alex. You could call it… a training run.'_

'A what?' Alex sat upright, placing Haley on his lap as he did.

'_Your breakfast is served.' _The loudspeaker announced. '_We haven't put anything funny in there, don't worry. We need you at full strength for today.'_ Alex stared at the speaker dubiously. Did he really trust it? Hell, did he have much of a choice? He dragged himself out of bed and went over to a table which hadn't been there yesterday. There was a bowl of coco-pops and a couple plates of pokéblocks. They all ate up, having not eaten anything since 8:30 yesterday morning. Fortunately the food wasn't contaminated with anything nasty. After they finished, a door opened in the side of Alex's cell, leading down a dark corridor. _'Down the corridor Alex. Don't be shy.'_

'Don't patronize me bitch.' Alex mumbled as he complied reluctantly. The lights in the roof of the place turned on as he went through, and the door closed behind him. At the end of a short tunnel, Alex found himself in a small glass room. The room was beside another room which was similar, and both rooms were inside a giant dome. There were gates at different sides of the dome, and the landscape varied hugely from small bumps to grass to five-metre high cliffs to trenches to a snowy area and there were trees with wires and platforms hanging from them and all else. It was huge, at least one hundred metres radius. 'Where the fuck am I?'

'_The training dome.'_ The speaker told him. _'Now please enter the second room.'_ The three set off for the second room as the door opened. _'Alone.'_ Alex gave his Pokémon apologetic looks as they stopped and he continued.

'I'll get this done then get back to you.' A door closed on him as he entered the second glass room, and then another door opened, connecting Alex to the dome. He got the hint, and went out into the massive dome, not having much choice now. 'All right, I'm in your fucking dome! What now?'

'_Survive.'_ The voice seemed to resonate through the entire dome from everywhere.

'What?' Alex's attention was grabbed as a loud rumbling filled the air, seeming to come from everywhere. He could see one of the far gates begin moving, and opening. There was something coming out.

'_First wave. Fighting type. Commence.'_

'Fighting t-'

'Hitmonchan!'

'Oh fuck.' Alex saw it run for him. It came rushing at him from a gate far away on his left. It ran straight for him. It neared a trench and leapt clear across the gap, and continued running for him. Alex soon realised what he was seeing, and ran like hell. 'SHIT!'

'_Fight it!'_

'Fuck you!' Alex roared as he sprinted in the opposite direction.

'Hitmonlee!'

'Doublefuck!' He skidded to a halt as a Hitmonlee came from the direction he was running in.

'_Remember how it felt! Feel the fire! Fight them!'_ **Feel the fire…** Alex turned and looked at Haley, far away in the glass room pawing sadly at the window in fear. She was scared for him. She didn't want him hurt… He couldn't die here… he had to survive… for her. He saw her mouth open, and she washed the window in a small wave of fire. **Fire…**

'HITMONLEE!' Alex spun around and ducked as an extended leg shot overhead, just missing him. He reached up and snatched the leg before it could come back.

'COME GET SOME!' He wrenched the Hitmonlee towards him by the leg, pulling him clear off the ground and into the air. As he flew towards him Alex ran and jumped at him, his leg ablaze and kicked back at the Pokémon, hitting it square and sending him flying. He spun in mid-air as the Hitmonchan leapt up at him with a sky uppercut. Alex jerked himself sideways as the punch just missed him, and grabbed Hitmonchan's arm as he soared past, spinning him around and seismic tossing him into a Hitmontop who had come from nowhere. 'Fuck yeah bitches!' He hollered with excitement at his sudden crazy new strength and speed. He landed and dashed for the two Pokémon before they could recover. He jumped high above their heads and flipped with superhuman agility and fired a charged blast of fire into them. The fire blast exploded in their midst and sent them flying as the Hitmonlee came back. He felt it building in him… he felt the power… it was in his heart… his spirit… like he told Haley. He was the fire. She was the fire. Now things were about to get hot. Alex was the thing he thought he loved above all else. Fire. He could feel it inside him, like Haley had. It was fire. 'Here we go!' He threw his mouth open with the last word and his breath came out as a scorching wave. The Hitmonlee stopped short and turned tail, but the wave swept over his body and engulfed him in the burning sensation. Alex shut his mouth with grin, licking his lips and shaking with power as the Hitmonlee collapsed. **Fuck that was amazing!** He thought as he felt ecstatic. He could feel the fire in him, a burning warmth from deep within… it was him… inside him. And he could control it. He could control _fire. _**Aagh! Fuck-fuck!** He grimaced at a pain in his stomach. Clearly that move was a little too much to be using at this stage.

'_Nice start Alex. Nice start. Good to see you're enjoying yourself.'_

'This is just for starters!' Alex barked into the air as he breathed heavily, trying to catch his short breath after that heat wave. 'When I'm done with these clowns, I'm coming for you next.'

'_Second wave. Flying.'_

'Bring it!' Alex held a thumbs up to Haley and Teri. Teri imitated him with a half-hearted feel; Haley barked excitedly and licked the glass separating them.

'_Commence.'_ Alex heard the gates open once more, then there were squawks of bird Pokémon. They all seemed to come from one this time. The one furthest away. _'I would suggest using the landscape to your advantage.'_ The speaker suggested. _'The trees._'

'Oh, right.' Alex set into a sprint headlong for the trees as the Pidgeottos shot around above his head. They suddenly got louder. He spun around to see them flying for him and threw up a hand, shooting embers into them. They suddenly separated, splitting off and diving around the wave. 'Crap! They're fast!' He turned back and ran for the trees as the birds regrouped for another attack. 'C'mon c'mon…' He hit the side of a tree with something highly experimental. Fortunately, it worked. He ran straight up the side of the tree and leapt into the air off it into the bird Pokémon, fists ablaze. He swung a few times and caught two out of the air, dropping them as he flew out through the group and landed from a great height without damage. 'Shit! I'm like superman!' He looked back up at the group as it circled around again. About a dozen of them left. Alex noticed that the trees seemed to have ladders up the side. He wondered how far he could fall without injury… and went for it. He jumped clear up the first dozen rungs with ease. Then the next dozen, then the next. He was flying up them at a great speed, and he was loving it.

'Pidgeotto!' He made a second rapid leap up another three rungs as a Pidgeotto shot underneath him, barely dodging it. He went back to his climbing and managed to reach the top without any hindrance.

'All right, I'm here.' He observed, looking around at the foliage blocking out most of his view. 'Well let's get rid of some of this.' The threw open his mouth again and loosed another heat wave, singeing and burning leaves just as the Pidgeottos happened to come crashing through the foliage into his attack, frying themselves and dropping. 'Huh… look at that…' Alex observed the falling Pokémon over the edge of the platform he was on. **Lucky shot much.**

'_You got lucky that time. Let's see how you handle this. Wave three. Ground.'_

'No problem.' Alex spat confidently. 'Fire owns ground any day.'

'_Commence.'_ Alex felt himself almost fall suddenly as the tree swayed under him.

'What the fuck?'

'RYDON!' He felt the tree lurch again as the Rydon crashed into it again, down below him.

'Just this one huh?' He observed as he looked around, but failed to see any other Pokémon. An idea came into his head. He looked directly down at the Rydon, just wondering if he would… if it would work. 'Question, how far can I fall and survive?'

'_That would be inadvisable.'_

'But could I survive?' The speaker was silent for a few seconds.

'_Yes, but-'_

'This'll be fun.' Alex shook his hands and jogged on the spot as he fired himself up, cloaking his entire body in fire as the tree rocked again. 'You know, I've heard of recoil damage, but this is fucking ridiculous.' He looked down one last time, and leapt over the edge. Falling straight for the Rydon. 'FUUUUUUUCK YEEEEEEEEEEEES!' He screamed wildly as the air rushing past him fanned his flames. 'FLARE BLITZ MOTHERFUCKER!'

'_Alex! Alex wake up!'_

'Ugh… gimme a second you bitch…' Alex groaned as he regained feeling in his legs and began standing slowly, not noticing the K.O'd Rydon beside him. 'Just keep the next wave off for a second can you…' His stomach hurt like fuck and he was having trouble breathing as he stumbled around.

'_There isn't another wave! We're under attack!'_

'Under… attack?' Alex wheezed sceptically. 'By who… wait… Nonono, _you're_ under attack. I'm not with you.'

'_No Alex, you're under attack! The cultists are here to kill you.'_

'Well so are you by the looks of things.' Alex retorted breathlessly with a shrug.

'_We were never going to kill you. We were going to extract your D.N.A. to create people to use as a weapon, but leave you living. These people want __**you**__ dead, and they're going through us to get to you!'_

'And?' Alex tapped his foot against the ground as he looked around for the speaker.

'_You have to help us or we could all die! There's a potion in your back pocket, use it!'_ Alex did, spraying the thing on his stomach. It suddenly eased up with miraculous speed.

'Let Haley out.' Alex told her. A few seconds later, the glass doors Alex had exited from unsealed with a hiss, and Alex's two Pokémon came rushing out to meet him.

'Vulpix!' Haley barked happily as she leapt into Alex's arms and he hugged her.

'Did'ya miss me?' Haley replied with an affectionate lick to the chin and by wagging her tails.

'_Alex!'_

'Fine then. Where to?'

'_Head through that gate you're facing, and hurry! Anybody wearing white, kill them.'_

'Wait, kill them?' Alex was taken aback as he ran for the gate. 'Not, stop them or halt them on incapacitate them?'

'_Kill them or they kill you. You've already killed that boy in your class.'_ Alex froze.

'He's dead..?'

'_You're strong! Of course he's dead! You kicked him right across the room!'_

'Vulpix.' Alex looked down to find Haley rubbing against his leg to comfort him.

'_Everybody makes mistakes, but now's not the time for reflection!'_

'Fine then. Kill them, got it.' Alex started up again just as three men came rushing around the gate.

'There it is! Kill it!' The men all raised assault rifles.

'SHIT!' Alex dived sideways into a roll as he chucked a fireball their way. The fireball exploded near them and knocked the three off their feet as Alex went for them. 'We're in for the kill! Alright?' Alex's Pokémon nodded grimly as they chased him. 'Ember! Mega punch!' His Pokémon attacked two of the grounded men as Alex went for the third. He raised his fist in a fire punch and swung it into him, breaking a rib on impact. 'Come on! Keep moving!'

'_Left up here!'_ Alex went left and ran straight into a couple of white men. He swung both fists simultaneously and hit each in the face, knocking them clear off their feet as he ran past. _'Stairs on the right!'_

'Got it!' Alex ran into a stairwell to his right and ascended them quickly, leaping dozens at a time as his Pokémon struggled to keep up. He just rounded a corner in the stairwell and found himself faced down by a man with a gun. 'Shit!' He ducked back around into the stairway he came from as the man opened fire from higher ground. Alex took in a deep inhalation of air as he hoped to hell this would work, and blew it out. His exhalation came as a cloud of smoke, obscuring the stairway and the man's view. 'And where there's smoke...!' He loosed an ember up the stairs after the smokescreen. He only heard the man's pained screams as he was set alight, he couldn't see anything. He rushed ahead into the smoke and around the corner to the next staircase, not looking at the man.

'_Now left here!'_

'Flamethrower!' Alex skidded through the doorway after Alex, firing a flamethrower into the group who were spinning around to face them.

'_Look out! Incoming!'_ Alex threw his head left as the ground shook, and swore.

'Ryperior!'

'Run it!' Alex sprinted straight ahead, scooping up an AR from one of the white men as he passed.

'_Left here! Quickly!' _Alex ushered his Pokémon through a doorway as the Pokémon closed in, a rock in one hand. He pulled himself through as the rock hurtled past at a great velocity and exploded at the end of the corridor with an almighty crash. _'Now this door here! Get ready because there's a giant gunfight, you're right behind the enemy lines so get in and take them out before they see you!'_

'Shock troop. Got it!' He ran for the door and kicked it out with full strength, slamming it clear off its hinges and into a man in front of him, hiding behind cover which was a fancy coffee table upturned. They were in a lobby. As Alex fell through the door he opened fire with the AR, taking out a couple of surprised white suits and a Magmar as Haley set to work with an ember on an Ivysaur and Teri took out a Meowth with an aura sphere.

'Shit! It's the kid!' A man in a black suit shouted from the other side of the lobby as he looked over his own cover which was a pot plant. 'Quick! Get over here!' Alex made a run for the men as his Pokémon trailed behind. There were several black suit men there, as well as a Pokémon for each.

'What's going on here?' He demanded, raising his gun threateningly.

'Hey, take it easy!' The black suit man said, holding his hands up innocently. 'We're on your side.' He turned around and pointed to a metal doorway behind him where a man was fiddling with an electronic panel beside it. There was an electabuzz guiding him as he did it. 'Damn cultists shot out the door function on the elevator and we can't get it open.'

'So the elevator's there then?' Alex asked with curiosity. The man nodded. 'Couldn't we pull it open?'

'Maybe if we had a Ryperior.'

'RYPERIOR!' Everybody spun to see the Pokémon crash through the doorway behind them.

'Crap!' Alex turned and ran for the elevator doorway and shoved the electabuzz aside.

'Oneside!' He slammed one fist into the gap between the doors and buckled it a bit. He shoved his hands through the gap he made and pulled outwards on them, dragging them apart. 'C'mon…c'mon… faster you piece of shit…'

'HEADS UP!' Alex dived aside as a rock came flying and crashed into where he had been just a few milliseconds before, smashing the elevator doors open.

'That works!' Alex grabbed the rock and dragged what was left of it out of the elevator, ushering the men in as they returned their Pokémon and jumped in.

'We're going up!' Alex leapt into the elevator behind them just as it began to rise.

'Shit shit shit faster…' Alex murmured as he watched the numbers go up, from 2 going to G.

'What's the rush for kid? We're out of there.' A black suit commented as he saw Alex watching the numbers.

'G!' Alex dragged his Pokémon out of the elevator with him as soon as the outside doors opened. The black suits followed more casually.

'Jeez, what's his-'

_**Bang!**_

'-aaaaaaaahaahh…' The voices trailed off as the men fell to their deaths in the elevator shaft. Only one man had managed to jump out after Alex before the Ryperior's rock crashed into the bottom of the elevator, snapping the cable holding it up. The man leapt to his feet and chased after Alex, calling to him to slow down.

'_Firefight ahead!'_ Alex ran for a door which automatically opened in front of him.

'Oh… Arceus…' It was a hangar. A giant airplane hangar. On one side, Alex's right, were the white suits, and their Pokémon. On the left were the black suits and their Pokémon, everybody firing back at one another.

'Down here!' The black suit man called as he ran left.

'Not shit Sherlock!' Alex cried as he ran after him, keeping low to avoid being shot as bullets and Pokémon moves went everywhere.

'Out here!' The man hit a sharp left and ran out an exterior door into the sunlight. Alex shut his eyes briefly as the sun burnt his eyes, but managed to get them open again to find himself seemingly in the middle of nowhere. The ground was grassy green and they were in the middle of a forest, and there was a road. Alongside the road was a black SUV parked up.

'Over here!' A man in the SUV called and motioned to them. 'Hurry, or they'll find us!' Alex and the man made a dash for the vehicle as the sounds of gunfire became louder. 'In the car! Hurry!' The man in the car threw a door open and Alex jumped in with his Pokémon, following the other black suit who had led them out here.

'Get us out of-'

There was a gunshot.

'Sorry buddyboy.' The man beside Alex spun left as a bullet shredded through his shoulder and the seat he was in, fired from a gun held through the driver's window. That voice… the vehicles door swung open and a hand yanked the shot man out. 'Hey kid. You miss me?'

'MR MERLIN?' Alex was aghast as Mr Merlin grinned at him, an SMG in one hand and holding the door in the other. Mr Merlin winked and placed himself in the driver's seat.

'That's me kid. Now buckle up. I've got a hijacked ride rearin'-' Mr Merlin stopped short as another gun poked its barrel through the window. 'Well look here. We're getting hijacked now. Ain't that funny…' Alex saw a white suit pointing an SMG through Merlin's window. Merlin dropped his gun to his feet as the white suit opened his door and took it. Haley looked at Alex with a scared look of confusion, and Alex just shrugged back, not understanding this himself. The white suit dragged merlin out of the car, and raised his rifle… only to hit him. Right across the head. Alex was so shocked he couldn't even move as the white suit dragged Merlin's unconscious body around the front of the SUV and threw it in the passenger seat. The white suit then took his place in the driver's seat and started the engine. Alex finally came to his senses as he did this and went for him just as he turned around. Alex stopped short of reaching the white suit's neck. The white suit smiled at him. Like, some strange knowing smile, and he winked as he turned the steering wheel hand and hit the gas.

Behind them, there was still a man. Coughing and spluttering, the black suit picked up his radio transmitter and pressed a button on the side, breathing huskily into it.

'_They got him…'_ He wheezed.

'_What? Who got him?'_

'_The cultists.. this guy hijacked the SUV, cultists hijacked that guy, and took off with him…'_ He spluttered a bit more. _'We've failed… they have him…'_

'Mr Merlin What the FUCK is going on here?' Alex demanded over the front seat. He had one arm wrapped around Teri, who was staring at her paws and shaking.

'Settle down Alex.' Merlin assured Alex as the white man drove. 'Stop just here.' The man in white pulled the car over on the side of the road as Merlin unbuckled his seatbelt.

'Those guys said these guys are trying to kill me!' Alex pointed at the driver, ready to attack him at any second.

'They are.' Merlin confirmed. 'But this isn't one of them.'

'Smeargle.' The driver said with a nod, grinning at Alex over his shoulder. Alex recoiled a bit as he became even more confused and looked between both for answers.

'Derrick?'

'Smeargle.' Derrick answered with a nod. Suddenly his body began changing, contorting into a mass of colours and then shrinking down into the much smaller frame of a Smeargle. Derrick. Merlin's Smeargle, who happened to be capable of using transform.

'I am so lost here…' Alex muttered as he facepalmed. 'Please tell me this is a dream…'

'I'll explain everything later. You have other things to attend to first.' Alex's confused gaze followed Merlin's finger to rest on Teri. Her big soft eyes were trembling as she shook, staring at her palms, speckled with blood.

'Oh no… Teri…' Alex pulled the arm around Teri's neck, pulling her into a hug as he wrapped his other arm around her. 'Come here… come here…' He whispered into her ear as she buried her head in his shoulder crying, clinging to him tightly. Alex felt Haley too, standing in his lap with her paws up on his body and licking his face sadly. He wrapped one arm around Haley too, stroking her. 'Don't worry you two… it's going to be okay…' He leaned down and kissed Teri on the head, then to Haley and kissed her awkwardly on the snout, surprising her. 'It's all going to be okay…'

During the trip back Teri had fallen asleep against Alex, as had Haley in his lap. He couldn't feel wrong like this. He had just put them through that… they were entitled to what they wanted. Alex was still awake of course. He was looking back and forth between Derrick and Merlin with wonder and confusion.

'I suppose you want an explanation now.' Merlin asked eventually with a sigh.

'I really would.' Alex nodded. 'But first question, how are you involved in all of this?'

'There are other things you need to know first.'

'All right then, I have another one.' Alex glared at merlin as he looked at Alex over his shoulder. 'You said on Thursday you knew what I was, what am i?' Merlin swore and looked away briefly, then back.

'You're asking me the wrong questions.' Merlin murmured. 'I'll get to that later. First things first, the black suits. What do you know about them?'

'Government.' Alex said with confidence. 'Found out about what I did to those guys at school and dragged me to whatever that place was. Made me fight against Pokémon with… whatever this thing with fire is…' He held up one hand and lit a small flame in his palm. 'They told me they were going to extract my D.N.A. and use it to create some weapon.'

'Well that's about it.' Merlin confirmed. 'There isn't much more to it than that. Just another secret government division looking for yet another super-weapon to use. Use it to "better the world". Or rather, control it.'

'Just like all governments.' Alex shrugged. 'But what's with the white suits? They called them "cultists", and said they were trying to kill me.'

'That's true I'm afraid.'

'So are there more?' Alex asked as he sat upright. 'More like me?'

'No.' Merlin shook his head. 'An entire company of operatives dedicated to killing you and you only.' Merlin paused in thought for a second. 'Well, actually there is another target, but yes. They're solely after you right now.'

'Cool.' Merlin stared at Alex with shock.

'You really don't have a good grasp of this situation.'

'I reckon I do.' He shrugged. 'Shitloads of guys chasing after me trying to kill me. Sounds like an interesting change from the shit I call my life right now.' He suggested. 'So who are they then?'

'They call themselves the Salvation legion.' Merlin explained. 'All you need to know is they're a group of cultists trying to kill you. That's it. They're well-funded by somebody we don't know of yet.'

'So they're trying to kill me because I can do stuff with fire?' Alex demanded with a confused shake. 'Why aren't they killing off fire Pokémon left right and centre?'

'That's not quite it.' Merlin clarified. 'There's another reason for it.'

'What reason then?' Alex demanded with frustration. 'Don't hold shit back on me! How am I going to understand this if you won't tell me things?'

'All you need to know Alex, is that you are very powerful.' Merlin warned darkly. 'And anybody as powerful as you is going to be targeted by somebody.'

'Wait, that powerful?' Alex's eyes widened as the flame in his hands grew larger. 'I probably shouldn't be doing this then…'

'No, by all means go ahead.'

'What?'

'Go ahead.' Merlin encouraged Alex with a grin. 'Look, I had a dream Alex.' He began reflectively. 'Arceus spoke to me. Arceus told me "one day you will find that boy. That boy who will hold the golden fire. You must guide him, train him, and keep him safe, lead him to his destiny", I'm going to do that.'

'I have a destiny?' Merlin reached one hand out to Alex and gently placed it on his forehead with a serious look. He tilted Alex's head downwards. The fire in his hands was different. It was a sparkling gold and orange. Merlin moved his hand off Alex's head and into the fire before Alex could react.

'Look…' Alex stared in shock as merlin held his hand in the flames for a few seconds, then removed it for inspection in front of his face. He wriggled his fingers and touched the hand with his other. 'Smooth as a baby's ass.'

'How did you do that?' Alex's voice wavered as his body shook in disbelief, staring at his fire.

'I didn't, you did.' He explained as he sat back in his seat. 'Fire isn't just for destruction. It has more noble purposes.' Alex noticed Veilstone city approaching on the horizon. 'As for who you are, that is what the fire is.' Merlin said with the same reflective tone. 'When you understand the fire, you understand yourself.'

'What is the fire?' Merlin grunted with amusement.

'Well there's that, the simple way out…' He muttered. 'The fire is whatever you want it to be. It's power is great. Its potential in endless. If you can fuel it, it is infinite is possibility.'

'Spirit.' Alex said as he looked into his flame.

'Alex, you are the fire.' Merlin said as Alex felt something strange. 'You are the fire in all senses, but I cannot explain it to you. You must discover what it is, discover it and discover yourself.'

'Why..?' Alex murmured as his eyes closed slowly, something overtaking him and dragging him into sleep. 'Why… is the fire my destiny…?'

'It isn't Alex.' Alex fell asleep as soon as Merlin opened his mouth. 'The fire is our destiny. Yours is to discover it…'

Alex didn't just wake up from sleep. He drifted from one state to the other slowly, passing through a number of middle realms, each containing various amounts of awareness until he finally realised he was awake. Awake with his Pokémon on either side of him. He must have been tired. He eventually became aware of how he was lying. It was growing on him, being like this. Teri with her arms wrapped around him and against his side with Haley's head resting against his neck. It was gradually becoming less strange and was now rather welcoming. Welcoming knowing he had somebody there for him.

'Morning Haley…' without opening his eyes, Alex placed a hand on Haley's head and touched her affectionately. 'Morning Teri.' Teri responded with a grunt, pulling tighter on Alex. **She's a bit messed up now…** he remembered with guilt. Guilt… so much guilt… he had instructed her to attack a human, and she had killed him. Dried blood was still on her hands. He could feel her aura on him, wrapping him up in her own and holding him there. She was trying to attach herself to him, but he kept her back a little. She was a nice Pokémon, but there was something which was stopping him from confessing any feelings he had surrounding Teri. It was weird, sure, but there was just something else that stopped him from leaning in and kissing her right then and there. Something deep down. Alex decided to let Teri have her way for a few more minutes and lay beside her and Haley, but eventually he had to wake up.

'Are you awake Alex?' That did the trick.

'Yep.' Alex nudged Teri a bit and woke her up, startling her as he did so, but he shushed he gently. 'I'm sorry Teri.' Was the first thing he said as he placed a hand on her cheek. 'I'm sorry I made you do that. I'm sorry I did that to you. I'm so sorry.' He rolled over to Haley now, who was also awake. 'And I'm sorry Haley. I put you through that, and I shouldn't have. Haley merely licked at Alex's hand as she stood again. Alex sat up and rubbed his eyes as Mr Merlin came into view in the doorway.

'Looks like you've had a good rest then.' He commented with a nod. 'Alright. It's ten o'clock. You have until five PM today to get anything and finish up with anything you need to do. Then we're leaving.'

'Leaving? For where? Why?' Alex demanded as he looked around the room with confusion, observing his new surroundings.

'I led the Sector, the black suits, to believe you were taken by the legion. The legion won't be fooled though, and they'll be about town. You can't stay here, so we're leaving for Solaceon soon. There I can begin leading you to your destiny.' Merlin threw Alex a bundle of clothing. Alex unfurled it with growing shock. What appeared to be a heavy pair of white shorts, a white singlet, underwear, socks and a pair of shoes. 'All flame retardant, should you get into trouble. A very expensive and rare material, so don't ask me where I got it.'

'Wait, you're not going to advise me to stay low and not use my powers or something?' Merlin laughed and shook his head with amusement.

'Not at all. I encourage use of what you can do when you have to. I'm not going to tell you to try living normally and staying low. Use your strength. Discover what you can do.'

'Sweet…' Alex muttered as he pulled the jacket on over his shirt. Merlin grinned and left Alex with his Pokémon, closing the door behind him. Alex jumped out of the spare bed in merlin's house (as far as he could imagine) and pulled on the rest of his clothes, then checked his new threads in a mirror.

'Vulpix!' Haley barked approvingly. As he did a quick twirl with a grin.

'Pretty cool huh?' He headed back to the bed and scooped Haley up in his arms, petting her as she smiled and murred. 'Let's get going Teri.'

'Lucario…' She said quietly as she followed Alex out the door. Alex felt her presence strongly behind him. It was heavy feeling on him. He stopped and confronted her as he headed out the doorway into the Lounge.

'Teri, are you alright?'

'Lucario.' She said with a faint nod. Alex frowned and shook his head.

'No you're not. You're lying.' Teri's head drooped and she whimpered. 'Teri. Come on…' Alex sighed stepped towards her and put a finger under her chin, tilting her head up to look at him with her sad eyes. 'Teri it's okay. If you aren't feeling alright you can stay here.' Teri lunged at Alex and grabbed his arm, shaking her head wildly and leaning against it, clinging to him as Haley watched on from the ground. 'I'll come back for you, I promise…' Alex said as he gently pried her off him and took her by the shoulders, looking into her eyes. 'I promise I'll come back for you.' Teri sniffed and nodded as Alex let go of her. 'Now go back to bed and sleep. Rest easy. I'll be back for you, okay? I'd never leave you like that.' Teri nodded and backed into the bedroom again, watching him was she closed the door slowly.

'(She's got problems.)' Haley advised Alex with a little nudge to the leg, curling her tails around it as Alex gazed deeply at the doorway.

'Your Lucario's a bit off, you know that?'

'Yeah.' Alex reluctantly turned around to find Merlin standing there.

'She can't handle the heat.' Alex cocked his head a bit and asked:

'What do you mean?'

'She's too frail Alex.' Merlin explained with a sigh as he walked past Alex and placed one hand on the door. 'You're changing a lot. You're going to be travelling soon. You're going to be running and fighting and hiding. Can she live like that?'

'I don't know…' Alex confessed as it dawned on him what things would be like with Teri clinging to him all his life if he was going to become a traveller.

'I can wipe her Alex.' Alex looked up with confusion as Merlin placed a hand on his shoulder. 'Derrick. He can perform a memory wipe on Teri. Wipe out her memory of her life. Wipe out all the pain we both know she's been through and still can feel, wipe out all the sadness, guilt, everything.'

'What? No!' Alex stammered as he stepped away. 'I can't do that to her!'

'Leave her with somebody nice.' Merlin suggested. 'Somebody stable and nice who she can be happy with. She will be safe. No danger.' Alex would have protested if he had the slightest bit of evidence why that wasn't a good idea, but with his mouth half open he realised he had nothing. He closed his mouth again as his own head hung. She had been abused her whole life. She was broken. She was mentally broken by it all, and she had been left weak by it. And now she had killed somebody… it was only worse…

'I said I'll come back to her.' He stated simply. 'I will come back this afternoon. Then I will decide what to do with her.'

'So be it.' Merlin said with a nod. 'I'll get her some food if she becomes hungry. Go do what you have to do.'

'Thanks Mr M.' Alex said gratefully as he headed for the front door.

'Call me Tim.'

'I still can't believe that just happened…' Alex murmured as he walked across a street separating two blocks. 'I can burn things… I can use fire…'

'(So can i.)' Haley grunted as she followed closely. '(Big deal.)'

'Are you jealous Haley?' Alex asked with a grin at her. 'Jealous I can use fire as well?'

'(No.)' She muttered as she followed him.

'Are you grumpy now?' Alex teased with a grin.

'(I'm not grumpy.)' Alex prodded her with a foot lightly.

'Grumpy-grumpy-grumpy.' He continued infuriatingly.

'(Stop it…)' Haley smiled a bit and went red. Alex stopped suddenly and crouched down. He caught Haley off guard and pushed her, rolling her onto her stomach. '(What are-)' Haley rolled and wriggled, laughing as Alex tickled her stomach. '(Stop it stop it stop it!)' She laughed as she swatted at his hand. '(Stop it!)' She burst into a fit of giggling as Alex stood back up and let her. '(You suck.)' She grinned as she stood and followed after him.

'So I was thinking.' Alex began as he continued walking. 'I've got some stuff left at home I'm going to pick up, after that I thought we I might go to the mall for a while.' His brow furrowed a little as he continued to plan out his day. 'I've also got some business to take care of.'

Alex reached his block after a twenty minute walk. As he approached his house he cursed to himself. **Shit, I should have seen this coming.** There was a crowd around the entrance to his house, and yellow tape keeping them back. Alex moved in and waded through them as they watched silently, occasionally whispering to each other harshly.

'Behind the fence please.' An officer warned as Alex came to the front of the group.

'What… the…' the police officers were emerging from the house in a line. Each one was carrying a Pokéball In each hand. Alex remembered the tape recorder now. He had confessed to that woman with the tape recorder. The police had raided the house. Alex could see the looks on the faces of the police officers as they emerged, looking sick and disgusted by what they had seen, some red faced after crying. Alex had never been in the basement before. He knew better than to do so. 'Psst!' Alex tugged on a man's shoulder, who was standing beside him. The man turned to him slowly, still focussing his eyes on the police officers.

'Huh?'

'Did they get the guy who did this?' Alex asked inconspicuously. The man shook his head.

'They say he ditched before they could get him.'

'Fuck…'

'The whole family was fucked up though.' The man continued as he watched the officers. 'Even the son was arrested for manslaughter a few days ago...' the man paused briefly as an image entered his head from what he had seen in the paper. 'Hold on…' He spun around suddenly. Alex was gone. He had left already.


	8. For all our sins

Chapter eight

For all our sins

Yours is lust. Mine is ignorance.

Today, I make amends.

'Dad's got a safe house.' Alex explained as he emerged from the crowd with Haley close in tow. 'That's where he'll be.' Haley could feel something as she followed Alex. He was walking quickly. His frequency of blinking decreased dramatically. She could feel him heating up.

'(What are you going to do?)' Haley asked with worry. It almost seemed like Alex heard her, because he directly answered her question.

'I'm going to do something I should have done a long time ago.' And he went quiet.

Haley silently followed Alex as he walked quickly. He was intent on something, and she didn't know what, though she had her suspicions. As they walked the buildings around them began to decrease in quality and increase in quantity. The buildings in this part of town were less maintained and dirty looking, like the people roaming the streets and alleyways around them and glaring at them. Alex recognised some of them as they did him. They would disappear from view into side streets or alleys shortly after seeing him. He couldn't help but wonder if they knew something.

Alex reached a dirty street sign reading "Hall-" the rest of the sign was broken off. He turned right down the street, and was immediately faced with a tall imposing tenement standing at the end like a great tall guardian. The windows were mostly boarded over and the brickwork was mossy.

'Don't be surprised if we meet a little resistance.' Alex said calmly as he headed for the building. People peered through boarded up windows of houses along the street, glaring at Alex. He didn't return their glances and just continued on towards the building. 'Just remember, when things get hot, get hotter. Right Haley?'

'Vulpix!' she confirmed happily with a little growl of excitement.

'Alright then, just don't get hurt or I'll hate myself.' As Alex and Haley approached the door, it opened first and a fat man came out. He reached up and removed half a grubby cigarette from his mouth and grunted.

'You Jarod's kid?'

'So he tells me.' Alex said with a nod as he approached the man, standing at eye level with him and staring back closely.

'He don't want to see you.'

'Oh, well that's a shame…' Alex sighed as he turned around and took a step to leave. 'I guess I'll just be _leaving!_' Alex kicked backwards and caught the man off guard, smacking his gun aside and banging his wrist into the wall roughly as he yelled. Alex turned and charged straight into him, punching up into his gut as he barged his way inside. 'In here Haley!' Haley jumped in quickly just as gunfire began outside aimed at the two. Alex slammed the door as a couple of bullets penetrated through and went back for the man, kicking him in the stomach as he tried to stand again. 'C'mon!' Alex scooped up the man's pistol and ran for the stairway.

A door burst open on his right suddenly, flying into him. He reacted quicker than he thought he could and punched out, smashing his fist clear through the door and bashing the guy in the nose and causing him to stumble back.

'Slam!' Haley dived around Alex's side as he pulled his fist free, and she leapt at the dazed man, spinning around in mid-air and smacking him with all six of her tails and knocking him over. Alex slammed the door shut again as he went for the kill, raising his leg and kicking down onto the man heavily and breaking a few ribs. 'He'll be at the top!' Alex motioned to Haley behind him as he raced up the stairs he was heading for earlier. He brought up the pistol and fired at two men before they could reach their Pokémon, hitting each in the chest and dropping them. Alex felt it with each shot still, a strange pang with the thought he had killed someone, but his innocence had died long ago when he was young, seeing what his dad did. This was just something bad he was doing. Nothing more.

'Machoke!' A Pokémon smashed out a door on the left of the corridor and leapt out facing Alex and Haley.

'Flamethrower!' Alex barked with one arm pointed at the charging Pokémon. Haley was now fully capable of using a flamethrower, and did so eagerly. It wasn't nearly as powerful as those she had used against the Poochyena or in that training session she and Alex had, but it was still a good attack. The Machoke put his head down and charged at the two through the torrent as it washed over him, doing his best to ignore it. 'Keep at it…' Alex commanded as the Machoke got neared. 'Keep at it… now!' Haley cut the flamethrower as Alex leapt out in front of her and swung with an uppercut, hitting the Machoke in the chin and almost toppling him backwards. 'Slam!' Haley jumped as Alex stepped aside, finishing their tag-team attack with a slam attack to the Pokémon's face, knocking it cold on the floor. 'Way to go!' Alex cried with violent enthusiasm as he rushed down the corridor again for the staircase at the other end. A man and a Mightyena came from around the bend of the stairs to see Alex and Haley running for them.

'Shadow ball!'

'Flamethrower!' The two attacks collided with a black/red explosion, creating a smoggy cloud of dust and smoke between the sides. Alex took a chance and threw a random fireball through the smog, and heard an explosion. 'Shock movement! Charge them!' Alex and Haley ran into the smog, ready to dig into their enemies when they found them, but they weren't there. The wall at the end of the staircase was blown out(to be fair, it was already crumbling), and the man and his Mightyena were lying on the ground outside a floor below them, but the Pokémon was still conscious. 'Flamethrower!' Haley spewed a torrent of fire across the injured Pokémon, knocking it out for good this time. 'Up here now!'

The third floor. Three out of four floors.

'Hold up…' Alex held an arm out to stop Haley as he caught sight of a door closing on his right in the corridor. 'It's a trap…'

'(What do we do then?)' In reply, Alex drew in a deep intake of breath, and exhaled heavily. Haley's eyes widened as the corridor suddenly combusted before her eyes. It started with the walls and floor and roof just in front of Alex, and went on as the heat wave continued, lighting the corridor and making it a flaming tunnel as the walls burst into flames.

'Fuck!' Alex fell forwards briefly, breathing heavily as there was a sharp pain in his gut. 'Arceus that took it out of me!' He grimaced as he looked down the tunnel. 'Go Haley!' Alex called as he rushed into the wave, still holding his stomach. Fortunately, Haley's flash fire ability meant that she wasn't hurt by fire of heat; in fact it helped her condition. Alex also seemed to be fireproof, which was good. Out of the half dozen men hiding in wait for them, only a few ventured to open their doors and proceed with the plan. Alex could tell as he heard their screams of pain behind him as the heat wave rushed through and seared their flesh. A bad move clearly. 'Last floor! He's up here!'

Alex had just rounded the corner to move into the last corridor when the doors burst open. 'Shit!' He spun and dived back down the stairs, grabbing Haley as he fell down under the gunfire ringing overhead. 'Motherfuckers!' Alex looked up to see a few bullets still flying over his head randomly, but he was safe here. 'I'm putting out smoke…' He advised Haley. He drew in another breath of air, now heavy with light smoke from the burning floor below, and expelled it into the corridor. The cloud materialised in seconds, very effectively obscuring anybody's view as bullets whizzed overhead still. 'Come on, we're not going that way…' Alex turned and raced back into the burning third floor as the panicked men fired randomly. This whole place had been set up to keep him or the police out it seemed. 'Here's the spot…' Alex said as he stopped at the opposite end of the third floor corridor and looked up. 'More than one entrance.' He crouched for a second as he judged things, then jumped up with an uppercut. His fist smashed right through the mouldy burning floorboards and into the fourth floor. His hand caught on the side of the hole as he fell back, and he quickly hoisted himself up in the confusion, raising his pistol. He fired four rounds as the men spun around to see what the noise was, hitting each in the chest. He dropped back down and lifted Haley through the hole, then followed after. Haley was already using flamethrower to take out the last remaining men, but Alex shot the last before she got to it. Alex finally decided that was all of them, and ran for the door at the end of the fourth floor corridor.

'KNOCK, KNOCK!' Alex kicked the door right off its hinges, straight into a man holding a gun up and knocking him over. Alex dived onto the man before he could ready his weapon again and tore it from his grip, throwing it aside. 'Hey dad…' Alex grabbed his dad by the collar and hoisted him to his feet. 'Long time no see.'

'Fuck off you little ass!' Jarod yelled as he grabbed at Alex, only to receive a punch in the gut.

'NO FUCK YOU!' Alex shot back as his dad collapsed in front of him and he raised his gun. 'Now I want you to tell me Jarod…' Alex leaned back down to whisper to his dad. 'Who, and where is my mum?' Jarod shook his head, making a funny gagging sound. That gagging sound, eventually turned into a laugh. A cruel laugh.

'You know what, fuck you.' Jarod looked up at Alex with a spiteful stare. 'I'm not going to tell you.'

'But why?' Alex questioned with a shake of his head. 'Why are you like this? Such a cruel heartless ruthless son of a bitch? Why can't you just FUCKING TELL ME!' Alex roared furiously as he pressed the muzzle of the pistol into his dad's fore head. His face was set in a serious, angry expression, only intensified by the eerie light that the flames were casting onto him as they rose from the third floor.

'Because I hate you.' Jarod breathed madly as he didn't hold up in his own glare. 'I never wanted you. I hated you, but I just couldn't kill you…' He shook his head frustratedly. 'I would fucking wait beside you at night, a gun in my fucking hand telling myself "just shoot him, just shoot him and that'll be it. No more stupid fucking kid mooching off me", but I couldn't.' He growled a bit. 'I just fucking couldn't and I don't know why. And I fucking hate you for doing that to me… so fuck you. I'm not telling you where she is.' Alex looked down at his dad with a hurt, confused expression as the gun shook.

'You really are a heartless bastard…' He muttered in disbelief. 'I had always thought maybe there was some decency in you, but no. You're a cold, vicious, mean bastard and that's it.' Alex bit his lip and shook his head again. 'I should kill you right this second, but I'm not.'

'Oh for the love of…' Jarod moaned as he threw his head back. 'Shut the fuck up! Shoot me or fucking don't!'

'I won't.' Alex lowered his gun and threw it aside. 'You're not even worth the bullet.' He hissed. 'As far as I'm concerned, you're already dead.' Alex turned away as Haley stared at Jarod in shock. Alex began walking away. 'I hope your life is living hell until you get there properly.' He commented as he headed through the doorway, leaving Haley stunned and staring.

'I could never bring myself to kill you…' Alex stopped short, halfway through the door. Haley backed towards Alex as Jarod pulled himself clumsily back to his feet, looking down at the ground as his long black hair covered his eyes. 'I could never bring myself to kill you…' He raised his head, and his pistol. 'Until today.'

'Vulpix!' Alex dived aside too late. The gunshot rang out as he was in mid leap. Alex crashed to the floor as the gunshot died, and lay there unmoving.

'_Alex!'_ Haley bawled as she ran for him, but something wouldn't let her go. She couldn't get through the doorframe to help Alex. Something invisible was blocking her way, like a wall.

There was a second thump. Haley spun around and saw Jarod there, on his knees. His gun was lying at his side, and his shirt was bloody. He stared at the roof blankly for a few seconds as he made a strange gurgling noise, then fell forwards on his face with one sharp thud. He didn't move any more. _'Alex!'_ Haley barked to Alex as he stood up again quickly and looked down at his unscathed body with confusion.

'Haley?' He demanded as he spun around to face his Pokémon, the two separated by some kind of barrier. 'Oh my… how are you doing this?' He asked as he ran to the barrier and placed his hands on it.

'_I don't know!' _She said with a whine, placing a paw on the barrier opposite Alex's hand. _'I just saw-'_

'How are you talking to me?' Haley's mouth paused in mid movement.

'_Talking to you?'_ Alex nodded slowly as he continued to stare at his Pokémon through the barrier. **Wait, dad's dead, Haley put up a barrier and she's talking to me now?** He closed his eyes and shook his head disbelievingly. **This is a dream… When I open my eyes, thing will be normal again.** Alex kept his eyes closed for about fifteen seconds. He couldn't hear anybody. Maybe it was a dream… there was just this weird, sudden feel to the place… radiating a strange warmth… it was so ethereal. It had been a dream… but how much of it was a dream? Was Haley even-

He cringed as he felt a tongue on his cheek. **It's not a dream?** _'Alex, open your eyes…'_

'What is go-' Alex's words caught in his throat as something stared back up at him. Two great dark red eyes set in gold fur.

'Nine._'_ Haley's words came out as that, but at the same time Alex heard something in his head. A familiar but distant voice echoing through his mind. It said "_Alex"_.

'You've… you're…' Alex stuttered as he pointed at Haley, confused even further now. 'A Ninetails?' Haley nodded with a vulpine grin. 'And you put up that barrier? And you evolved?' Haley nodded again as Alex looked past her at his dad, dead on the ground. Killed by his own bullet after it bounced off Haley's barrier.

'_I killed him.'_ Haley licked Alex's face again as she spoke, asking for forgiveness as she whined a bit. He could literally feel her guilt in his mind.

'No Haley…' Alex crooned as he wrapped his arms around her neck and crouched down to her level. 'He killed himself.' He stroked her soft golden fur down her neck and back. 'He's been dead for a while now. Years. He was simply an empty husk of a man. Just a little bit of hate trapped inside a man's body. Hate always gets itself killed some way or another. Directly or indirectly. That's what he did today. You're not responsible.' Alex smiled further as he continued to stroke her fur, feeling its new texture.

'_Thank you.'_ Haley said approvingly as she leaned into his hand and murred into it the way that she would. _'Why aren't we touchy-feely today?'_ She added as Alex ran his hands over her head and muzzle.

'What, can you blame me?' Alex asked with a short chuckle. 'You evolved like, two seconds ago. You're suddenly a lot different now. But if you want me to stop-'

'_No…'_ Haley cut in as she licked his face. _'Don't.'_

'Then I won't.' Alex sat beside Haley and crossed his legs with one arm draped around her neck and touching her fur, watching the flames as they rose up and set fire to the room around them.

'_Alex, are you just going to sit here and wait for the building to collapse on you?'_

'I just might do normally.' He said distantly as he hugged Haley a bit tighter and scratched just below her neck above her underbelly. 'It's so beautiful… the flames rising around up from below, it's as if they're going to kill us here, but they can't… I would just let the flames come up around me and burn me. I'd let them burn the building and let it collapse on me, just to end my miserable life and to die with the fire…'

'_No…' _Haley whined as she nuzzled at his neck. _'Don't…'_ She begged with another lick and placed a paw on Alex's back.

'I won't.' Alex assured her. 'Maybe a week ago I would. Die with the fire and end my shitty life. But why would I now?' He slapped a hand lightly against Haley a few times, but not hard enough to hurt, just to recognise her presence. 'I always thought that I would die with the fire. Die with something I loved…' His eyes were fixated on the plumes of flame overwhelming the room around him with fascination. 'But now I have you. I can live with something I love.' Haley went a bit red and looked down at the floor, which was now wholly ablaze beneath the two. **What does he mean by that?** She thought with embarrassment. 'So please…' he held her muzzle in his hands and turned her to look at him, giving her a desperate pleading look. 'Just tell me you feel the same…' He begged softly while he stroked her lightly, and moved his head a bit closer to her snout as her eyes wavered, staring back into Alex's.

'_I thought… I thought you felt something for Teri…'_ She said as she pawed the ground nervously, her head drooping as she waited for a response.

'I thought I did too.' Alex confessed with another affectionate stroke of her fur. 'But as hard as I thought I did, a part of me didn't. A part of me stopped me from thinking that. Because there was always something about you... something I have never seen in anybody else and don't think I ever will. And I couldn't find that thing in Teri… and only seeing you now I realise. I had always looked on you as somebody so helpless; you were so small and felt I was looking after you. Like I was some kind of babysitter, but seeing you like this… evolved… I suddenly see you as something more… so please just tell me you feel the same…'

'_Ssssshh… it's okay…' He cooed as he stroked it a little with one digit. 'I just want to help you… I'm not like them…'_

He was not like them.

'_It's okay…' He told her once more, using the most convincing tone he could, fixating his eyes on hers. 'The bad men are gone. You're safe here. I won't hurt you.' He assured her. Vulpix just stared back, the boy's thumb stroking her back was interfering with her thought process. 'I would never hurt you.'_

He had the best of intentions.

'_You need a real name.' He told her. 'Not just Vulpix, something special.' __**Something special?**__ She thought with interest._

He made her feel special. Someone special.

'_But you aren't going back to that, alright?' Alex replaced the brush on the side of the bath and picked up Haley, turning her to face him and holding her in front of his face. 'Coz' your my partner now and I'm going to treat you right.' He told her with a sharp nod and a grin. Haley cocked her head, something new coming over her. She couldn't understand this boy. She hated humans. She hated them all, except this one… __**Your partner?**__ She thought,_

He gave her meaning, and value.

'_I will never hurt you Haley.' Alex's voice rung with that same thing she had felt yesterday. That same quality which Haley couldn't understand, but made her only sure he wasn't lying. Nobody could lie in a voice like that… Hayley stepped forwards a bit more. She stuck her tongue out and licked Alex's middle finger in forgiveness._

Her opinion mattered to him.

'_I ain't like Jarod.' Alex told her softly as he stared straight ahead. 'No cunt's gonna tell me otherwise, and no cunt's gonna pick on you, or I'm gonna smash them.' Haley actually grinned a little hearing him say this. 'And by the way…' Haley turned her head up to look at Alex, twitching her ear a bit. 'That was cool what you did at home.' Haley was confused, and cocked her head in her special way to show she didn't understand. 'That ember. Lighting the table on fire? That was awesome!' Alex whispered excitedly as he petted her, stroking her back. Haley grinned up at him, happy he didn't disapprove of her move. She didn't know where it came from, but Alex's approval suddenly became important to her._

She felt something for him.

'_Fire comes from the spirit.' He reached out and placed a finger just under Haley's chin. 'Haley, you have the most spirit I've ever seen in a Pokémon.' Haley listened with fascination and amazement at how Alex could describe this. She felt warm as he complimented her. 'I saw you yesterday. No energy and tired but still fighting back against me.' Alex grinned at the image. 'That's spirit, and you've got a hell of a lot of it. You just need to believe in yourself as much as I do.'_

He believed in her.

'_Remember my dad!' He called out. 'Remember what he did to you! All those things he did to you for years and years and he still didn't break you!' Alex was almost screaming by this point. 'That's because you're stronger than this! Are you going to let a little fatigue get you down after everything you've been through! You're strong Haley! Show me!'_

He inspired her.

'_Fuck you Tracey!' Alex yelled back. 'Don't listen to him Haley! You can win this! I know you can because you're better than this!' Haley heard that thing again. That strange thing which echoed in his voice, that inspiring touch, suddenly fuelling that fire she felt. 'Flamethrower!'_

'_Flamethrower?' Tracey laughed. 'She can't use-' Haley had finally had enough. All her life she had been told she was weak. Told her she was expected to be nothing more than a good little cock-sucking bitch. Told what she could and couldn't do. And now, finally, somebody had encouraged her. Showed her what she could do… and she had realised her potential. She couldn't let Alex down._

He showed her what her potential was. He showed her… she could do anything…

'_But now I have you. I can live with something I love.' Haley went a bit red and looked down at the floor, which was now wholly ablaze beneath the two. 'So please…' he held her muzzle in his hands and turned her to look at him, giving her a desperate pleading look. 'Just tell me you feel the same…'_

He loved her.

Haley had no control of her body. Her subconscious mind and emotions just seized control of her body, and threw her forwards into Alex. Alex was actually taken off guard, but nethertheless he kissed her snout back, wrapping his arms around her neck and head and pulling her in as much as he could as she tried to fit her tongue awkwardly into his mouth. But they made it work somehow. It still held so much feeling as they went at it.

'Thank you…' Alex whispered as he withdrew with a smile, shutting his eyes and stroking Haley lovingly as he hadn't before, with very long, softer strokes through her coat as her head rested on his shoulder. 'Thank you Haley…' He sniffed with a nod, then stood again and wiped his eyes.

'_I love you.'_ Haley confessed unsurely as she looked up at him.

'Yeah, I love you too.' He said with a warm smile. A smile he had never used before. Something in his life was finally going right. Living with a deadbeat rapist sex-slaver son-bashing pimp, everybody at his school hating him for his dad, being kidnapped by the government and shot at by an army of cultists dedicated to killing him… it almost seemed worth it now as he bend down and gazed into Haley's glistening red eyes. 'Thank you Haley… for making my life something...' He whispered as he looked into her eyes, but was aware of the flames growing higher around them. 'Come on. Let's get out of here.' Haley nodded in agreement as Alex stood up and began walking, but stopped again as he looked out the window beside him to see the city through a small gap in boards. The vast city in the distance, then the world. 'It's just us Haley.' He began softly. 'Merlin's there too, but when it comes down to it, it's just us against the world…

Alex and Haley got out of the place just as the fire department arrived. The two fled into town just as Blastoises set to work on the fire behind them. Fortunately they weren't noticed.

'_Where are we going Alex?'_ Haley asked as she ran beside him. She could now run much faster with her longer legs, and her body was much more efficient. _'Are we going back to Merlin?'_ Alex shook his head as he ran, slowing down a bit.

'Not yet.' He said as he came to a stop and turned around to Haley. 'Do you remember that truck at dad's place?' Haley nodded.

'_Where they put pokéballs?'_

'Yeah, that one.' Alex murmured for a second as his head dropped in thought. 'Are you ready for just a little more action today?' Haley smiled and nodded, her tails swaying as she sat.

'_As long as I'm with you I can tackle anything.'_ She confirmed with a bark and a smile.

'That's the spirit.' Alex smiled back. 'But if you ever feel worn out or tired, just please let me know alright? I would hate myself for pushing you too much when you're really tired. I know you've a lot of spirit, but everybody gets tired, however much spirit we have.'

'_Well I've got shitloads of energy for whatever this is.'_ Haley barked happily without her enthusiasm budging an inch, sweeping the footpath behind her with her tails.

'But before I tell you what I'm thinking…' Alex knelt in front of her. 'I didn't think that through properly. What we just did. I didn't consent you first, and I'm sorry.'

'_Consent me? What are you talking about?'_

'Well I kind of dragged you in after me, didn't i?' Haley didn't reply. 'I should have checked you were okay with it first, so sorry.'

'_It's all good.'_ Haley said as she flicked her head sideways a little. It sort of resembled a shrug.

'You don't feel guilt?'

'_I've been through hell Alex.' _Haley said as she nuzzled against Alex's face for comfort. '_When you're been through what I have, you feel no remorse for evil men.'_

'Well that's… good… I think…' Alex muttered unsurely. 'You're stronger than Teri when it comes to this.'

'_I'm sorry?'_

'Come on. I'll explain.' Alex began walking, and Haley followed beside him. 'She killed that guy in the facility place.'

'_Oh…'_

'She's a bit overwhelmed. She's clinging to me for some comfort I think.' Haley understood. She felt a little comfort around Alex.

'_Huh. Makes sense I guess.'_

'I'm going to make this better.' Alex said ultimately. 'I dragged her after me through that, I told her to attack that guy. I'm going to make things better, and that's why we're going to take that truck of pokéballs.'

'_What?'_

'I won't do it if you don't want to go.' Alex told her as he continued walking.

'_Why are you taking the truck? What does this have to do with Teri?'_

'Come here…' Alex leaned down to whisper to Haley, explaining his plan as her eyes went wide.

'_You… you'd do that..?'_ She sniffed with tears forming. Alex nodded grimly.

'I can't not do it, presented with the opportunity.' He explained.

'_Alex…'_ He stopped as Haley curled a tail around one of his legs, stopping him. He crouched down to her level as she began crying a bit. _'Thank you.'_ She nuzzled into his neck again and wrapped her tails around him. Her equivalent of a hug. _'Thank you for doing this. Thank you so much…' _Tears of joy. Haley thought she didn't cry anymore. When people did things to her, she would just take it silently. But this was just… wow…

'I'm a bad person Haley.' He said as he hugged her back. 'I have to make things better again.'

'_So… How are we going to do this?'_ Haley asked as she observed the tall VCPD building before them. Alex shrugged as he continued to walk towards the building.

'I was thinking I would just walk in and see what happened.' He said unsurely.

'_Can you even drive?'_

'Not legally.' He hid how nervous he was. He was only on his learners. Strangely enough, it wasn't breaking into the region's biggest police facility that worried him, it was driving a truck across the city. 'But then again, what does legally matter to us now?' He tossed his pistol into a bush beside the entrance.

'_Shit all nothing?'_

'Precisely.' A pair of glass doors slid open and allowed Alex to pass through them into the lobby. There were people sitting around and a reception desk. He approached the desk without any particular plan in mind. 'Hey.' He waved a little as the receptionist chick looked up at him.

'How can I help you?'

'I'm Alex.' He said meekly. 'Alex Black.'

'Okay then. Hello Alex black.' She said in an inoffensively patronising way. 'How can I help you?' He smiled a bit now that the woman had lightened the atmosphere.

'Idunno.' He confessed. 'But my dad's an illicit Pokémon pimp and the boys in blue just raided his house and found dozens of abused Pokémon in there and my dad got away. I figured there's got to be somebody looking for me.' The woman's pen dropped out of her hand and she stared.

'Oh… you're _that_ kid…' She realised with wide eyes. 'Yes… I think there's a lot of somebodies looking for you…'

'_This is so dumb…'_ Haley hid her head under her paws with an exasperated whimper.

'Great.' He smiled. 'Where can I find them?'

'Um… I can bring them here for you. If you would like that.'

'Thanks.' Alex headed for a vacant pair of seats as the woman picked up a phone.

'Maxley? We have a kid here claiming to be Alex black…' He heard her begin. His hearing was much better now too. 'Yes, that Alex Black… no, nobody's brought him in, he just showed up… he's in the lobby here…' Alex waved a bit. The woman smiled and waved back. 'He just waved to me then. I'm serious, I'm looking at him right now. He's just sitting there with a Ninetails waiting for somebody to come down for him… all right then.' She put the phone down. 'Somebody will be down shortly.'

Alex only had to wait a minute, and a pair of policeman emerged from an elevator.

'Alex Black?' Alex stood up and waved shortly.

'Yeah. That's me.'

'Can you come with us?' Alex sat up and walked towards the men. 'Also, return your Pokémon thanks. We can't have it walking around here.'

'I can't.' Alex told them. 'I don't have her pokéball. I'm not sure if she has one.'

'_Prick didn't give me one.'_ Haley told Alex only. _'I was small enough he said I didn't need one. Bastard preferred to let me live off scraps of food rather than buy me a pokéball.'_ Pokéballs weren't cheap. Although Pokémon didn't use energy when in a pokéball and subsequently needed to be fed significantly less often, Jarod had simply thrown Haley whatever leftover scraps he had after meals. It was easier.

'She's wild?'

'Technically.' Alex explained.

'Well don't try anything.' The men advised as one moved around behind Alex. 'We've got men all through the building.'

'No problem.' Alex lied. There would be shit.

'Alex Black.' Maxley placed himself opposite Alex, on the other side of the table.

'Hey.' Alex said with a confident but polite smile.

'Son of the infamous Jarod Black.'

'That's the one.'

'What are you doing here kid?' The man asked as he leaned across the table to him. 'You turning yourself in?' Haley watched through a one-way mirror in another room.

'I wasn't aware I did anything wrong.' Alex shrugged. 'I'm here about the Pokémon.' Maxley opened a folder in front of him with a murmur.

'One count of manslaughter.'

'Crap…' Alex had forgotten about that. 'I forgot about that…'

'You forgot that you killed a boy?'

'I didn't know he was dead at the time.' He shrugged. 'And I think I fainted afterwards.'

'You had plenty of time to think about it after you escape our custody.' Maxley accused.

'Escaped? Yes. Your custody? No…'

'Could you clarify that?'

'It's a conspiracy. It's hard to explain.' He said weakly. 'Government thing. Now can we talk about the Pokémon?'

'Thirty female Pokémon.' Maxley said as he opened another folder. 'Semen traces were found in every one of them, most of them traced to your dad.'

'Yeah, I know.' Alex confirmed. 'I want to know what you're planning on doing with them.'

'Why does that concern you?'

'I want them.' Maxley stared at Alex for a few seconds. Alex stared back. 'My dad fucked those Pokémon up, and I'm going to make things better.'

'You understand we can't just do that.' Maxley shook his head. 'They will be taken care of.'

'You understand that I've lived in that house with those Pokémon all my life.' Alex retorted quickly, and spoke from deep down. 'Those Pokémon were fucked over by my dad. MY dad. And I was the guy who cleaned up. Every cum-stained, ripped-ass, shredded-pussy, bloodied, beaten, abused, mentally unstable, broken, crying, choking-on-cum Pokémon. I__Cleaned up after them every single time and healed them back to health and I had to see those looks on their faces after that _thing_ I you call my dad fucked them over and over and I didn't break down because I had to be the strong one and look after them, so YOU LOOK ME IN THE GOD-DAMN EYES AND TELL ME YOU CAN DO A BETTER JOB THAN I CAN!' Alex was roaring and standing by this point, glaring at Maxley as his chest heaved in and out, then said more softly: 'Tell me you know them better than I do, because I swear if you let those Pokémon out of their pokéballs and ask them the _one_ person in this shithole world who gave a crap about them, and watch where they point, you're gonna be looking me dead in the eyes.' Maxley was rendered totally incapable of reply by this point. Haley herself was just staring with disbelief. 'For all our sins, I must atone. So give them unto me so that I will undo that which has been cast upon these broken souls.' Maxley was shaken by the force of the words Alex directed to him. Each word linked into the next seamlessly and carried such strength and sway. Each would strike, but leave no time for recovery as the next and next would hammer themselves home and carry their meaning. His voice echoed and reverberated more than it should have.

'Wait here please…' Maxley climbed weakly to his feet and headed for a door behind Alex. He returned a couple of minutes later, a briefcase in each hand. 'These are the Pokémon.'

'Put them on the table.' Maxley did. 'Slide them across.' Alex took the cases as they slid to him and opened them. Each contained fifteen pokéballs. 'That's all of them.'

'There's still the little issue of manslaughter.' Maxley reminded Alex nervously. Alex glared at Maxley, his eyes holding that strange look they had earlier. Maxley could swear they were red.

'You're read the witness reports?' Maxley nodded.

'Kicked across the room apparently.'

'That's right.' Alex confirmed. 'I kicked a guy my age clear across a room and killed him. You're a little bigger than him but it won't make much of a difference.'

'Wait,' Maxley stood up with an angry look, 'are you threatening me?' Alex jumped up too.

'I attacked and overpowered you.' Alex said with calm menace. 'I stole your key and broke out with my Pokémon and these suitcases. That's what you're going to tell your superiors.'

'You want me to let you out?' Maxley demanded shakily. Alex's look was scaring him shitless. 'And lie to my superiors?'

'If you don't cooperate, you won't be lying when you tell them.' The two stared back at one another for a few seconds. 'I'll make it easy for you.' He held up one hand as it sparked. Maxley watched in awe as the sparks jumped and flickered, then burst into a flame. 'Now, give me your fucking key.'

'_Wow,_ _how did you do that?'_ Haley demanded as she followed Alex towards the exit of the building, a briefcase in either hand.

'Hell, Idunno.' He shrugged. 'I used lots of really complicated words and stuff.'

'_But it was so loud and commanding…'_ Alex shrugged again.

'I can just do it sometimes.' He said unsurely. He reached and pulled open the door as a policeman with a cast on his arm walked in.

'Thank y-' The man stopped and stared. Alex stared. 'You…' The man pointed. 'You're alive?'

'You!' Alex pointed back. The guy merlin had shot. The guy who was with the woman, standing over him when he first woke up. Haley was growling at him. 'Fuck!' Alex bolted through the door as the man whipped out his pistol. He grabbed his pistol hidden in the bush and made a run to the right and sprinted, watching over his shoulder. The man rushed out and gave chase, but Alex was fast now. He smiled at first, but then he saw the man pull over a police car and jump in. 'Run Haley!' Alex turned away and began sprinting again with Haley. He didn't go faster than Haley could though. He chanced a glimpse over his shoulder as he reached an intersection. The car skidded around the corner just as Alex rounded it. The car shot forwards too quickly, and the driver skidded and cut him off, both men jumping out, going for their guns. 'Stick close Haley!' Alex drew a breath in, and then exhaled heavily, creating his usual obscuring smokescreen.

'Where is he?' The man in the cast called as he looked around randomly for any movement. Alex dashed straight. The man saw the movement. 'Got you!' The man just managed to fire before it reached him. He stepped back as he heard a thud against the car as the body hit it. 'Back the car up! I'll get him!' There was a screech of tires as the police cruiser was thrown into reverse and backed up. 'Got you now bastard…' He squinted and stepped forwards to see the figure lying in front of him. 'What the fuck?' It was the police officer. 'Then who the fuck is driving-' The man was unable to finish his sentence as the police cruiser slammed into him. He screamed in pain as the cruiser sandwiched him between the front of it and the wall of the building, crushing him a bit and splattering blood across it, but he was still alive. He managed to look up and see the figure in the driver seat as he stuck a pistol out the window.

'Yippee-kai-aye motherfucker.'

_Bang!_

'_Was that necessary?'_ Haley asked as Alex threw the cruiser into reverse again and backed up onto the road. She was sitting in the passenger seat.

'He was trying to shoot me.' Alex put the car in gear and accelerated, his nervousness suddenly lost somewhere as confidence instilled itself in him for the time being. On cue, there was a short bang from behind and both the car's occupants cringed.

'_More police cars!'_

'Fuck!' Alex hit the gas. 'Buckle up Haley. I might be able to survive if I fuck up and crash, but you're wearing a damn seatbelt!' Haley complied and grabbed her belt with her teeth, then buckled herself in awkwardly. 'I've only done this in need for speed, so hang on!' He threw the wheel left and wrenched the handbrake as he went into another intersection. 'Shit!' A truck coming from the left slammed into the front left corner as the cruiser skidded past, shunting it and spinning it to face the direction it was heading. Alex's original right. He floored it with reckless disregard for traffic and went after the truck as more cruisers came after him. He remembered roughly how to get to merlin's place. This time he slowed a little, but skidded a bit around the corner and just missed a car, then set off west. He swung an elbow into his window and smashed it into pieces. He threw his head out briefly and spewed out a smokescreen, blocking view of him by the following policemen. They slowed down and didn't risk it, stopping before the smokescreen as Alex took another right, and disappeared into midday traffic.

Merlin was having a last relaxing day in Veilstone before he left. He lay in a lawn chair wearing a pair of shades and drinking beer. He sat upright a little as he heard a distant screech, and lifted his shades to see a vehicle approaching. As it neared, he identified it as a police cruiser. As it neared further, he saw the dent in the front, and the driver.

'Great Arceus! What the hell?' The car threw itself sideways and into a crazy skid. It hit the curb and the wheels on the right got a little air, then slammed back down heavily. 'Alex! What the hell have you been doing?'

'Long story.' He noticed merlin staring as Haley jumped out after him. 'Really long story.' He explained with a grin. 'In short: I broke into a criminal safe house, shot five or so guys, broke out of a police station with thirty pokéballs, hijacked a police car and lost the cars chasing me.' He looked over his shoulder quickly. 'For now. Oh, and I also saw that guy you shot in the shoulder yesterday.'

'What?' Merlin exploded. 'What happened? Where was he?'

'That guy you shot yesterday, I slammed the cruiser into him and shot him in the head, and at the police station.' He answered in order.

'Oh.' Merlin's brow cleared. 'So he's dead?'

'Well I did the whole "yippee-kai-aye motherfucker" thing, and that usually works in the movie.' He said with a shrug. 'So I'd say he's dead.'

'_Yep. He's pretty dead.'_ Haley confirmed.

'(Alex!)' Alex only just turned as he found a Lucario throw herself onto him, hugging him tightly.

'Okay… Teri… please let go…' He coughed under her vice-grip hug as he looked over her shoulder at Merlin, who gave him a questioning look. Alex nodded as best he could, and pried Teri off him. 'Teri, there's something I need to do, okay?' Alex told her soothingly as merlin approached from behind her. 'I'm going to make everything okay…' He said softly.

'Face her towards me.' Alex turned her towards Merlin gently as she gave him a confused look. 'Keep still.'

'Cario!' Teri pulled away as merlin's hand approached her.

'Teri…' Alex grabbed her by the shoulders, but not too hard. 'It's going to make everything better, don't worry… just stay calm… when you wake up, everything will be better.' Teri sighed, and stayed still, unsure of what was going to happen. 'I'm sorry Teri… but this is best for you…' Her heart skipped a beat as Alex said that; Merlin stepped towards her quickly and placed a palm on her forehead. Alex cried out and caught her as she collapsed suddenly. 'Wait, how did you do that?' He demanded with shock. 'I thought derrick-'

'There is a lot you don't know about me Alex.' Merlin said. 'Now let's get her somewhere safe. We have plenty of time to take her somewhere.'

'Um… yeah…about that…' Alex raised a briefcase and opened it. 'I don't suppose you could do a few more?'

'Who is it?'

'Alex.' There was a brief pause illustrated with the sound of unlocking and removing deadbolts, then the house's front door opened, revealing human Haley standing in a pair of shorts and a baggy t-shirt.

'What are you doing here?' She hissed as she backed away a bit with a frightened look 'You should be in the police station! You… did that to him!'

'Oh get over it…' Alex rolled his eyes as he stepped onto the doorstep. 'Don't worry. I don't murder girls.'

'That's not funny.' She said as she walked further inside, away from Alex. 'What do you want?' Alex walked inside and placed both briefcases on the table and began unlocking them.

'Happy birthday.' He revealed the case's contents to Haley, swinging open the lids.

'Pokéballs?' She inspected as she dared to take a step closer.

'Oh come on Haley, I'm not going to attack you.' He sighed. 'And they're Pokémon. Twenty five of them.'

'Twenty five Pokémon!' She gasped as she took a running step towards the table and ran her hands over the balls.

'They are the Pokémon my dad had.' He explained sadly. I've had their memories erased of everything they've been through. I just need somebody I can trust to take care of them.' Alex didn't tell the truth entirely. He had kept five of them. The stronger Pokémon, who he thought could go on without too much pain from their past.

'But there are so many of them!' Haley gasped as she looked every ball over one-by-one.

'Alright then. I'll take half of them somewhere else…'

'No!' Haley called with a smile. Alex knew how much she loved Pokémon. This would be a dream come true for her, and he knew she would look after them. 'I'll look after them.'

'Thank you.' Alex stepped around the table to Haley and removed one pokéball from his pocket. 'But I want you to take special care of this one.' He placed it in Haley's outstretched hand carefully. There was a little blue sticker on the button. 'Her name's Teri.'

'Your Lucario?' He nodded reluctantly and bit his lip.

'She's been through things I can't humanely allow her to remember. I don't want her to feel hurt by them.'

'You erased all their memories to erase the pain?' Haley asked with a growing feeling inside of her. 'That's kind of you.' Alex shook his head and looked back out the door.

'Not kindness.' He said. 'Not yet. I haven't atoned yet. I'm just righting the wrongs I should have long ago.'


	9. outLaw and disOrder

Chapter 9

(Out)Law And (Dis)Order.

I'm a lover I'm a rebel I'm a fighter.

Gonna set your world on fire.

This is so intense-

FUCK YESSSS! TRY MOTHERFUCKERS!

FUCK

YEASSSS!

SUCK MY DICK FRANCE! (Half of France (the female half))

Where was I? Watching Rugby world cup. NZ 5, France 0

Crap! Missed the conversion… guts Weepu… stay strong bro, Kick some derrier! (French for ass (I think I spelt it wrong)).

I'm backing black

(ALL BLACKS 4EVER)

Later…

FUCK!

YES!

ALL BLAAAAAAAAACKS!

Okay, I'm done. Good game France and all that carry-on.

Where was i?

Gonna set your world on fire

'You cleansed their souls.' Merlin nodded as Alex shut the door behind him, getting into the back of his SUV as he looked a bit confused.

'Whose souls?'

'Theirs.' Merlin nodded to Haley's house with an approving smile. 'You cleansed the taint and corruption.' Alex shook his head as he bucked in, and Haley promptly lay across his lap with a satisfied smile, her belly resting across his legs and half-curling up on the seat, resting her head on his knee and covering herself with her tails.

'You did that.' Alex said solemnly, stroking Haley's stomach as she murred. 'So thanks.'

'It was at your request I did so.' Merlin explained at he pulled away from the curb. 'I had the means, but you had the ideals, and the good will. You did a good thing.'

'Kay… thanks.' Alex replied unsurely as his face filled his window. A thing he did when he was a little embarrassed so others wouldn't look at him.

'_He's right Alex.' _Haley agreed as she lifted herself up and licked his chin, bringing a smile to his face as he watched the world go past. _'I don't know how to thank you for doing that for them. All that suffering I have seen them endure, I can put that to ease in my mind.'_

'I didn't go right through with it though…' Alex lifted five pokéballs from his belt with a guilty look. 'I left them…'

'_But they're strong Alex.'_ Haley licked one of the balls reassuringly. _'You chose to take only those who were the mentally strongest and unbroken. Those who can still live properly with their memories. They'll be fine.'_

'I still wish I could have saved them from those years…' He said as he stared at the orbs. 'I still might, once whatever this is, is over.' A very important question suddenly arose in Alex's mind. 'Merlin where are we going?'

'Solaceon town.' Merlin answered quickly, he had already planned ahead. 'From there, we are going to Celestic town.'

'Why?'

'I can't tell you yet.' Merlin said with a shake of his head. 'But it is your destiny.'

'Ugh… dammit…' Alex banged his head back into the leather seat with a grunt. 'You keep feeding me all this destiny shit and don't tell me anything about it! Why am I even in this car?'

'Because you are curious.' Merlin grinned slyly. 'You're curious as to what this destiny is, so I'm going to make this all the more an adventure for you by not telling you.'

'You realise you're dragging me away from my dead family and school to escape an army trying to kill me?' Alex checked. 'I have no idea why you're so interested in me or why you're taking me to Celestic town or anything, you're just keeping me in the dark, so I want some answers!' He demanded, crossing his arms and glaring at the back of merlin's head. Merlin was silent for a few seconds, and he sighed.

'There's something you're wrong about.' Merlin said finally. 'Your family isn't dead.'

'Eiyvanaa?' Alex asked immediately as he almost jumped out of his seat.

'Eiyvanaa.' Merlin nodded. 'How do you know about Eiyvanaa?'

'Jarod told me she was my mum, where is she?' Alex demanded with growing excitement.

'What else did he tell you?'

'She's a Pokémon.' Merlin muttered a little with discontent. 'Wait, he lied?'

'No.' Merlin said reluctantly. 'He was telling the truth. I just had hoped he didn't tell you yet.'

'He did.' Merlin sighed again and shook his head, thinking.

'We're going to find her.'

'We are?' Alex's heart jumped with excitement. 'She's in Celestic town? What kind of Pokémon is she?'

'She's in Celestic town.' Merlin started. 'As for-' He saw something ahead and stopped in his sentence. 'Shit!' He grabbed something from the front seat and threw it to Alex, who caught them. 'Put these on! Your name in Reggie Briggs. I'm your uncle John Briggs, your parents are on holiday in Hoenn, got it?' Alex nodded confusedly as he slapped the shades and cap on. he leaned to see through the seats, and saw what Merlin was worried about.

'Good evening sir.' A police officer shined a torch through the window as Merlin pulled up in front of the barrier. It was getting dark now.

'Good evening officer.' Merlin rumbled jollily. 'What seems to be the problem?'

'We're on the lookout for a dangerous fugitive who escaped custody earlier today. Would you mind stepping out of the vehicle?' A second police officer asked past the first.

'Uncle?' Alex put his hands up in front of him and grasped randomly at the air, finally finding merlin's shoulder as he gave him a "what are you doing" look. 'What's going on out there? Why did we stop?' Alex tilted his head for his ear to face the front door.

'It's nothing Reggie. Don't worry.' Merlin assured him with an inwards grin as he unbuckled his belt and opened the door.

'You're coming back aren't you?' Alex groped at the air after merlin as he stepped out of the car. 'Where are you going?'

'Relax Reggie.' Merlin advised him as the second officer looked through Alex's window. 'I'm sorry for him. He's got…' He snapped his fingers together as if trying to jog his memory. 'I'm sorry. I can't remember what it's called, he's blind as a bat.'

'The kid has a Ninetails.' The second officer examined as he looked through the window. 'Our guy has a Ninetails.'

'She leads him around.' Merlin explained. 'She acts as his eyes. She's very good.'

'Is that so?' The first officer looked through the window at the Ninetails inside also. 'Could he be acting blind?'

_Thud!_

'Shit!' Alex leapt away from the window as the policemen slumped to the ground, Merlin standing there.

'They were asking too many questions.' He explained as he jumped into the driver seat.

'You just knocked them out!'

'You killed one a few hours ago.'

'Oh.' Alex remembered. 'Right.' Merlin hit the pedal and backed the vehicle up as a third officer emerged from the squad car.

'Hey!' Merlin hit the gas as the officer fumbled with his pistol. The man jumped aside as the SUV screamed past and smashed through the barrier blocking its path. The man climbed painfully to his feet with gritted teeth as he raised his mic to his mouth. 'Gerard, we have a situation…' There was silence as the SUV accelerated into the distance and an earpiece in the "cop's" ear. 'Yeah, I found him. The guy who took off with him too. Black SUV, heading west on the 215.'

'Shit, this is not good.' Merlin muttered as he checked his rear view mirror. 'They're going to be looking for us now.'

'So?' Alex shrugged. 'We can't just knock them all out?'

'We need a new vehicle.' Merlin decided as he eyed a truck on the road ahead of him. 'They'll be looking for this one…'

'You are not going to hijack a truck?' Merlin nodded grimly.

'I'm afraid-'

'Fuck yeah!' Alex threw off his seatbelt and leaned towards his door.

'That's an unhealthy attitude.' Merlin grunted as he flicked his hazard lights. The truck ahead of him pulled over to the side of the road and stopped, its brake lights lighting up the darkness. 'Come on. I'll take care of the driver, you clear out any crap in the back of the truck. Merlin and Alex climbed out of the car as the truck driver did so also. Haley followed after Alex, and he closed the door after her.

'What's wrong?' The truck driver asked as Alex headed for the roller door at the back of the truck. Alex heard a thud from the front of the truck as he twisted the handle, then threw the door upwards and open.

'Oh…' Alex found himself frozen as he stared at the dozen-or-so armed men in white tuxedos staring at him with looks of equal shock and surprise.

'It's him…' One mouthed as they all stared back with wicked grins.

'Shit!' Alex dived aside as every gun swung towards him. Bullets pinged and ricocheted off the pavement as he ran for the front of the truck. 'Merlin! Cultists!' He grabbed the first pokéball he felt on his belt and chucked it at the ground as he spun on his heel.

'Gar?' A angry looking Gardevoir appeared before Alex's eyes, but then a look of confusion crossed her face as she found herself somewhere unfamiliar.

'Protect!' Alex screamed as he saw the men leap out the back of the truck. She looked at Alex, then back at the men, then threw up a screen of energy at the last second as bullets assailed them.

'Gardevoir?' She called with confusion over her shoulder.

'I'll explain later!' He ran for the barrier as bullets continued to hit it. He hit it and ran up the side of it, then jumped off backwards at the top and threw a fireball into the group. They scattered as it landed in the centre of them and blasted them apart. Alex grabbed another two pokéballs as Haley used a flamethrower on one man who landed out of the way of the barrier.

'Blaziken!'

'Espeon!' Both Pokémon stared back at Alex as they desperately tried to come to terms with the situation before them.

'No time! Gardevoir! Psychic! Blaze kick and psybeam! Haley! Flamethrower!' The Pokémon obeyed and the Blaziken charged for the barrier. The Gardevoir threw her arms forwards as the men got back to their feet, but before they could get their pokéballs free the barrier surged forwards as a psychic wave and crashed into them, knocking them clear off their feet. The Blaziken landed beside one and sent a vicious blaze kick into his stomach as a stomp. Haley hit another with a flamethrower and the Espeon struck another with a psybeam. These Pokémon were the tough ones. The ones who were unbroken, and they admittedly held a lot of hate for humans, and had no problem letting it loose on them. Alex's dad actually had to have his own personal Pokémon, his pair of Nidokings, to hold them down while he did his business with these Pokémon because of how they fought back. They were violent. 'Razor leaf! Seismic toss! Shadow ball! Slam!' A hail of razor sharp leaves shredded two men as they stumbled to their feet, and cut them down, slicing and slashing their clothing and skin and bloodying their bodies as they collapsed under the stinging pain. Another man managed to get free a Pokémon before the Blaziken got hold of him by the throat. She jumped up high into the air with freakish strength, bringing the man up with her, and then threw him down with a brutal choke-slam onto his just-released nidorino, impaling him on the Pokémon's back spikes as he landed. The Pokémon was quickly put out of its horror by a shadow ball slamming into it and exploding. Another man released a Golbat, but Haley grounded it with a super slam attack with all nine of her tails, then finished the job with a flamethrower onto it. 'Now psychic!' He called to the Gardevoir. 'Bring them together!' The Gardevoir lifter her arms and brought them down, lifting the remaining four into the air and flinging them into a central area as Alex ran for them. He jumped into the air as he neared them, lighting his entire body as they stared up at him in shock.

'JUST TRY AND KILL ME!' They men had no hope against his flare blitz attack. One of the strongest fire type attacks known. All the other Pokémon could see was a cloud of dust after the impact. The Espeon jumped in shock as a body suddenly landed beside her, fallen from the sky after impact. It was scorched and broken looking, eyes frozen wide open in horror.

'_Alex!'_ Haley ran for the smoke as it cleared and found Alex lying in a small crater, about a foot deep. He coughed as he doubled over, clutching his stomach as pain bit into him with every breath.

'Crap…' He wheezed. 'I shouldn't have done that…' The other Pokémon had surrounded him in an instant with looks of concern.

'(Alex! Who hurt you!)' The Blaziken demanded, eyeing merlin suspiciously. '(it was him, wasn't-)'

'_(Settle down)_' Haley snapped. _'(He hurt himself. He does with that attack. You idiot Alex.)_'

'I hurt myself with all attacks…' He murmured as he held a hand to the Blaziken. 'Could you?' The Blaziken leaned down and took his hand, then pulled him to his feet, catching him as he fell as all the Pokémon made exclamations.

'(Where are we?)' The Gardevoir asked as she looked around her environment with curiosity. '(I do not see the demon…)'

'_I am translating to you.'_ Haley explained as she sensed Alex's confusion as to how he could explain the Pokémon's speech.

'You're free now.' Alex told them as the Blaziken led him to the truck.

'Are you alright?' The Blaziken growled and Merlin jumped back with surprise.

'It's alright girl.' Alex tapped the Blaziken's shoulder comfortingly. 'He's with me.'

'(Where is the demon?)' The Espeon asked as the Blaziken sat Alex on the edge of the truck.

'He's dead.' Alex sighed as the Pokémon gasped. 'You're all with me now, if that's okay with you.'

'(Whatever you wish, I am there.)' The Blaziken grinned as she put one arm around Alex's shoulder and sat beside him. '(You are a friend to me.)'

'(As are you to I.)' The Gardevoir agreed as she sat on the opposite side of him and imitated the Blaziken. '(You showed care for me.)'

'(I owe you.)' The Espeon confirmed as she stood at his feet with a smile. '(You have been good to me… not like him.)'

'(I think this goes without saying_._)_' _Haley smiled as she sat beside the Espeon. '(You got me all the way.)'

'Well that's good.' Alex smiled. They did appreciate him. After all, he was the one who looked after them when they were recovering from their injuries and cared for them. 'Because I got a little problem with an army of guys trying to kill me.'

'(Kill you?)' The Blaziken gasped. '(Not if I kill them all first!)'

'Settle down.' Alex laughed as he tapped her shoulder again. 'We can kill them all together.'

'Sorry to interrupt on your little family reunion…' Merlin interrupted, causing the Pokémon to jump and stare at him. 'But we have to get out of here before more show up.'


	10. I gotta feeling

Chapter 10

I gotta feeling

?

Tonight's gonna be a black night…

Each step landed soundlessly as Alex walked. In the pitch blackness that was night, one could only just see the outline of a boy walking in the darkness. What would have really alerted them would have been the fine glowing that followed him, enshrouding his entire body and slowly rolling off him upwards like a mist.

Alex came to a stop when he had felt he walked enough. He stood at the edge of a drop. Beneath him, the moon's pale face rippled in the pool as something touched the surface, distorting the image wave by wave as they spread out from the point of contact. He turned his head skywards slowly, gazing through the steam trailing off his body and at the stars high above in the night. His breaths came through his nose solely, each a scalding burst of heated air, almost igniting. He was heated, and he couldn't understand it.

He let his arms swing loosely at his side, trying to loosen up in general. Things sunk in a little, what he was doing. No doubt on the run from the police thanks to his little stint yesterday, a cult of armed lunatics chasing him down, whose sole objective was to kill him where he stood, the government trying to haul his ass back into custody… He sighed; his head hanging as he closed his eyes to reflect. And yet all that didn't matter. What pathetic excuse for a family he had until recently was gone, his schoolmates now were under the impression he was a psycho killer, but none of it mattered. There was still somebody he knew he could trust.

He picked up on Haley's presence before he saw or heard her, but he could just tell now. He could feel when she was close. It felt comforting, and whatever troubles he had would be banished back into the depths of his mind for the seconds when her ruby eyes threw him her penetrating gaze, when she cocked her head cutely and angled one upwards slightly. _"Going for a late-night stroll are we?"_ Haley asked, walking up to from behind. Alex patted his thigh idly, beckoning for her approach. _"It's late, Alex. You should rest."_ Haley advised him, stopping at his side and sitting. Her eyes were fixed on his, his on the pool before him.

"I can't rest…" Alex murmured to the reflection before him, shaking his head slowly as his steaming hands rose in front of his face, creating a thin haze between him and the water. "It won't let me… the fire won't let me… it just wants to burn and burn on inside me."

"_That's because you let it."_ Haley stood and brushed past Alex's leg, snapping him from his trance at the feeling of her tails wrapping around his calf.

"I'm letting it…" He admitted. "It just feels good… different and good… it makes me feel so good…"

"_And you're letting it get the better of you."_ She stopped and looked back up into Alex's eyes, this time he looked back at her.

"It is getting the better of me." Alex said finally, looking sideways away from Haley. He didn't like admitting defeat in any circumstances, but he couldn't keep it back from Haley. "It's weird… it's making me feel things I shouldn't… weird things. Things that keep me up… but I just can't pull myself from the feelings… it's like-" He trailed off as Haley's paw rested on his knee.

"_Come on."_ Haley urged him, nuzzling his leg. _"You can rest easy with me. Let's go back and sleep."_ Alex sighed and knelt down, patting Haley's neck.

"You've really done a lot for me Haley…" He said softly, taking Haley's muzzle in both hands and stroking it. "I really appreciate everything you've done for me" He continued as he looked her directly in the eyes. "You're been a friend to me, and so much more." Haley placed both her paws on Alex's knees and lifted her front half up, so her head was level with his.

"_How much more Alex?"_ She asked, her piercing ruby eyes penetrating through to Alex's heart and soul. _"Please… show me how much more."_

Alex slid one hand under Haley's muzzle and held it lightly, leaning forwards and meeting Haley's kiss. His hand clenched and released lightly on the scruff of her neck as her tongue intruded in his mouth and her nose pressed against his lips.

Beneath the glowing full moon on that starry, spectacular night where not a cloud could be seen in the dark sky, human and Pokémon expressed themselves without a care in the world. All worries were thrown aside, all strife laid down just for that one, wonderful, blissful moment beneath the stars…

Sleeping covered in Pokémon**. Hmm..**. Alex thought he had already gotten past that stage where he would wake up surrounded by Pokémon and thought it was strange. He was wrong. There was a weight on his chest and he could feel fur on either side of him. It was still strange. He opened his eyes to see who the closest ones were. Of course, lying on his stomach with her head resting in his neck was Haley. She had to be the closest to him since his little display of affection, and he was all too happy to find her there. Curled up on him and warm with her tails falling across his legs and keeping him warm. **Thanks Haley.** He thought (despite her new heavier weight) with a groggy grin, turning to see the others. On his right, lying on her front and close to him, was a Luxray. She was lying on her side with her back resting against him. On his left, also snuggled up close, was an Absol. Also lying around was the Blaziken, the Espeon and the Gardevoir. He was covered in them.

'_Morning Alex.'_ Haley didn't speak this time as she licked Alex's neck, keeping her words private from the others.

'Hello Haley.' Alex replied as his arms beside him came up and around Haley's body, hugging her. One of them tensed lightly on the scruff of her neck. He leaned up and forwards a bit and kissed her furry forehead, causing her to blush a bit.

'_Alex…_" She swatted at his head gently, _"_…_not with them around…'_

'Why not?' He asked with a frown as Haley wrapped a tail around one of his legs.

'_They might get jealous…'_ She warned, casting a wary glance at the Absol, then Luxray.

'Good point.' He realised as he looked around. The Blaziken in particular felt she was very close to him, and was usually, physically, very close to him. Save this occasion. As soon as Alex had explained the situation to his Absol, the overjoyed Pokémon was at his side for the rest of the night. The Luxray was also somewhat happy despite her temperamental personality, and had already lain down beside him before the Blaziken could. And so, everybody drifted into sleep for a while. It seemed none of the others had noticed, even moved, from when he and Haley had their brief outing.

_**Bang! Bang! Bang!**_

'(What?)'

'(What is that?)'

'What the-' Every Pokémon save Haley was on their feet in seconds. Alex tried to sit up also, but found Haley's forepaws pinned down his arms and held him on the ground.

'_Oh, relax.'_ Haley told him as she wrapped her tails around Alex's other leg and lay down again to rest. _'It's just Merlin.'_

'Come in.' The door rolled up to reveal a very nervous looking aged man, shrinking back under the suspicious gazes of the five Pokémon staring him down, rather annoyed at how they had been so rudely awoken from their dreams, which were all compromisingly focussed on one thing. Alex.

'It's morning.' Merlin said with a sheepish grin. 'Would you like some breakfast?'

'I think we could all do with some breakfast.' Alex tried to sit up again, but once again Haley held him down. 'Haley…' He warned with a grin and swatted at her lightly.

'_Don't wanna get up…'_ She murred as she snuggled in closer. _'Wanna lie on you…'_

'Well I'm hungry, so off you get.' Haley sighed and rolled off and over, onto her back then onto her front as Alex stood and brushed himself down and yawned. 'I haven't eaten in ages, and I'm sure the girls haven't had a decent meal in ages.' The last meal he had was about twenty-four hours ago, and it was coco-pops. 'Maybe chicken. Love the taste of chicken.' Four of the unnamed Pokémon all turned towards the Blaziken with grins. The Blaziken raised an eyebrow with her own, different, sly grin as she chewed a claw. 'Oh.' Alex realised with shock as he got the obscure reference. 'No, I meant that literally.' **Arceus, even after all that they've been through, they can still throw dirty jokes at me? I'm not sure if that's sad or humorously ironic.**

'(Tough luck.)' The Espeon said to the Blaziken with a sarcastic sad tone.

'(Suit yourself.)' The Blaziken shrugged as she jumped down from the truck. '(Your loss.)' Alex saw Haley's expression at this, and she was none too pleased.

'Oh lighten up Haley.' He pushed her sideways lightly with his foot. 'They're just joking around.'

'Hurry up Alex.' Merlin ushered the rest out impatiently. 'You'll miss the breakfast rush if you hurry.'

'Breakfast rush?' Alex looked around for clues to where they were.

'Solaceon town.' Merlin confirmed as he shut and locked the door at the back. They were just beside a petrol station, beside a busy road with cars rushing past. 'You might want to put your Pokémon away while you're…' He trailed off as the Pokémon glared at him. 'Never mind.'

'Just make sure you behave, kay?' Alex warned the Pokémon.

'(Yeah.)' Was the jist of the collective reply of the Pokémon, aside from Haley's definite "okay".

'Good girls. Now don't wander off, stick close-' Alex cut himself off as the Pokémon all bunched around him. 'Not that close…' They all spread out a little at Alex's request. 'Thank you.'

'Cheers merlin!' Alex said with a grin as he picked a piece of chicken out of his box. They were just outside the shop sitting on the ground. Beside him on the lunch table were his Pokémon, munching happily on pokéblock, opposite was Merlin. Merlin nodded as he took a hamburger from his box and observed it thoroughly.

'You need your energy for where we're going next.' Merlin told him, then began eating what he was sure had to decrease his life expectancy by at least a week.

'That would be?'

'Lost tower.' Merlin said. 'The place where the departed souls of Pokémon rest.'

'Sounds like more fun than a bucketfull'a rainbows.' Alex frowned. 'Why do you need me with you?'

'Because.' Merlin placed his burger down and looked Alex hard in the eyes. 'We're going to a part of lost tower few people know about. And where we're going, we might wake up a few of those resting souls.'

'This is sounding slightly more... interesting' Alex said with a grunt.

'It will be good training for you.' Merlin added. 'You need to become stronger.'

'How much stronger exactly?'

'You'll know when you're there.' Merlin said with a grin. 'Trust me, you'll know.'

'Cool.' Alex stood up and grinned as he looked around him, taking his empty box with him and stepping out from the lunch table to walk to a rubbish bin. 'So we're fighting some ghosts huh?'

'I would say so.' Merlin placed his box in the bin with Alex's, then looked at his entourage with concern. 'But we have to do something about this. You can't have all of them out with us. We're going through the city.'

'Absol!' The Absol stepped in front of Alex and stomped one paw on the ground, holding her head high.

'Dark type.' Alex pointed to her, speaking to Merlin. 'Good against ghost type.' The Absol grinned triumphantly, but mostly at the fact Alex had taken her side.

'Fine…' Merlin sighed with a soft facepalm. 'But just her and Haley. The others go away, alright?' Alex nodded, to the disappointment of the others. Haley grinned and moved to his side, feeling a victory of sorts.

'Sorry girls.' He apologised sheepishly as he reached for his belt. 'I'll let you all out when we're done.' The disappointed frames of a Blaziken, a Gardevoir, an Espeon and a Luxray disappeared into their pokéballs.

'They are rather attached to you...' The Absol grunted at Merlin with distaste, sliding across to Alex's leg. 'Look at that.'

'(She gets to.)' The Absol grunted again, throwing her horn in Haley's general direction. '(So I get to.)' She looked back up at Alex with a smile, her razor tail wagging dangerously close to Alex's leg, but she was very careful not to hit him.

'_It's different.'_ Haley retorted with a grunt.

'You don't have to stick to my leg everywhere we go.' He commented as he crouched down and tousled the longer fur on the Absol's head, getting a wider grin out of her. He was grateful for these Pokémon's personalities. However hostile or violent they were in battle, or however much they hated humans, they were still cuddly fluffballs around him. It was actually an emotional deprivation that led the Absol to do this. However tough they were, Pokémon needed love and attention. These Pokémon had been deprived of that feeling until they were around Alex, and that brought out something different in them and they would release a lot of emotion around him.

'(She is.)' The Absol pointed her head to Haley again.

'_(All right! This conversation is over.)'_ Haley decided, realising she should cut things short there.

'Follow me then.' Merlin motioned to Alex as he began walking away. 'And don't get lost.'

'So I don't suppose you want a name do you?' The Absol's tail wagged further at the mention of a name. 'I thought so… I was thinking Razier… like rapier and razor put together.' The Absol smiled, happy with anything.

'_I got one.'_ Haley interrupted Alex's thinking with her thoughts, talking to him privately. _'How about "horny"?'_

'Don't be bitchy Haley.' Alex nudged Haley with his foot. She responded by grabbing him around the ankle with one tail and pulling him, tripping him over as he swore. 'Hey!'

'_Oops.'_ Haley grinned as Alex stood back up with his own grin, staring at her.

'You wanna play rough?' He demanded.

'_Maybe I do.'_ She taunted with a flick of her tails. _'Aaaaagh!'_ Haley dashed forwards, past Merlin as Alex chased after her with a yell. He caught up and grabbed her around the torso, then stood up, heaving her into the air as she writhed in his bear-hug. _'Let go of me!'_ She laughed as she wriggled.

'Nah.' Alex twisted her around and draped her across his shoulder, wrapping that arm around her body and walking again as she faced backwards.

'_Don't be an ass!'_ Haley struggled about, but Alex held her on his shoulder and continued to carry her with a grin. _'I'll bite you.'_

'No you won't.' Alex laughed as he scratched her side. 'You love me.'

'_Dammit…'_ Haley's body went limp, drooping on his shoulder and whining. _'Please put me down?'_ Alex leaned forwards and eased Haley off his shoulder, then lowered her to the ground.

'That's better.'

'Ain't that cute.' Merlin grinned as he watched the two's playful display. Alex swung to him with an astonished expression.

"What?" he demanded, unsure of what he heard.

"You two make a nice couple together." Merlin commented, lifting a hand to point in their general direction. "What, you thought I wouldn't notice?" He laughed at Alex's silence. "I see how you two look at one another. You are terrible at hiding your feelings." Alex and Haley looked at each other quickly as if trying to come up with a collective answer to what Merlin was saying.

Alex finally braved up. "Is it that obvious?" He asked with a nervous look. Merlin nodded with a grin as he came a little closer.

"Look, Alex I don't disapprove of humans having feelings for Pokémon." He explained as he came to a stop in front of the two. "I think it's a wonderful thing, but a lot of people would disagree with it…" he looked around briefly to make sure nobody was staring or watching them. "You might want to lay off the public displays of affection a little, alright? Or someone might say something." Alex stared at Merlin as if to contemplate briefly.

"Fuck you." Alex said without much emotion, and he crouched beside Haley and stroked her. "I couldn't give two-shits about what they think of us." Haley smiled and simply nodded as she leaned her neck into Alex's hand.

Merlin sighed. "Fine. Suit yourself." Nobody was paying any attention right now, to Razier. The Absol stood back and watched this situation with a mix of curiosity and jealousy. She bit her lip as Alex continued to scratch Haley's neck and stroke her. "We'll leave the truck here and take a bus across town. The Salvies will be looking for the truck."

Alex headed after Merlin as he went for where he thought a bus stop to be. "So we're going to hijack another car?"

Merlin grunted with a shrug. "We just might be."

"Hopefully this one will be less interesting than getting the truck." He said without thinking. **Wait, what am I saying? Hell, I hope we get more of these bastards!**

Alex Haley and Razier followed Merlin as he led the way. He fast-walked across the street just as a bus was pulled up. They pushed their way through the group and boarded the bus as Merlin took some notes from his pocket and handed them over to the bus driver, who took them without question and allowed them to pass. Merlin sat in the seat second from the back, and so Alex slid into the very back seat and was joined quickly by Haley and Razier.

"_Shotgun!"_ Haley cried, leaping onto Alex's lap as he gasped under her weight. She simply giggled and shuffled back towards the window, then lay down on Alex's lap, smirking at the frowning Absol and infuriating her further. Alex rested one arm on Haley's back and lightly took hold of the scruff of her neck and scratched, only to further Razier's anger. Haley's eyes shut halfway and a smile stretched over her muzzle as Alex found a sensitive spot just under her chin, and her tails slowly rose involuntarily. _"Mmm… keep going…"_ she urged with a murr, pressing her neck into Alex's hand and onto his thigh. Razier crossed her forepaws and looked away with a mutter.

The bus started up again suddenly as another passenger took a seat on the opposite side of the aisle from Merlin. Alex placed one hand on one of Haley's tails. "Can you put these down so I can see?" At his request, Haley curled her tails back in, but wrapped the one Alex touched around his hand. She pulled it with her to her head and licked his palm.

"_Your hands taste like chicken."_ She commented with a grin, licking his fingers affectionately. She bit one finger lightly with a playful grin..

"Cut it out." Alex warned, wriggling his finger side to side to loosen it, but Haley's tooth dug just a little into his finger, preventing any escape.

Razier watched on scornfully as the two subtly flirted for the next twenty minutes, flirting involving a lot of licking and biting on Haley's part and a lot of neck-scratching and petting on Alex's. Merlin finally stood and broke the two apart.

"All right." He tapped Alex's shoulder as he stood, the bus rolling to a stop. "This is our stop. Come on, we're getting off." Alex nodded and tapped Hayley just above where her tails connected to her rump.

"Off we get." He said. Haley grinned playfully, treating this situation as she had this morning's. "Fine then." He scooped his arms under Haley's belly and hoisted her onto his shoulder again, making her giggle uncontrollably. Razier jumped off the seat and headed down the aisle after Merlin quickly. Alex didn't really seem to care about the dozens of pair of eyes fixed on him as he carried Haley to the front of the bus, then jumped down the steps. "Here we go." He lifted Haley up and set her down on the concrete before him. "Now, where exactly are…" He trailed off as his eyes followed the huge structure before him upwards, following it right up to the sky. "…wow… it's really… big." He decided, still staring as Merlin began for the entrance.

"Hurry up then, Alex." Merlin called to him.

Alex nodded, still staring at the top of it way up high. "Yeah, yeah… I'm coming." He walked forwards, still watching the top. Haley jumped sideways with a howl as Alex almost kicked her.

"_Hey! Watch where you're going."_ She snapped, slapping his leg with a tail.

"Sorry." He murmured only half-heartedly, still staring at the top. He spotted how far Merlin had gotten ahead and finally decided to pick up the pace after him, so he wouldn't get left behind.

The entire building was one giant, fantastic mausoleum. The first floor roof was at least three stories high, and dimly lit by great, ebony chandeliers hanging down from the ceiling. The floor was a checkerboard of black and white. The most remarkable thin however, was that the entire complex seemed to be made of stone. Not stone bricks or cement, no, it was like one giant stone, carved out on the inside.

"This place is epic…" Alex murmured as he followed Merlin through a large pair of stone doors, left wide open for tourists. A visitor's reception area was a simple oak desk in the centre of the almost empty room. A woman in a grey dress sat at a computer, Alex could see blues and whites reflected in her glasses from the screen.

Merlin cleared his throat as he approached, catching the woman's attention. "Ma'am." He acknowledged, removing his beret he always wore and placing it over his heart. "My son and I have come to pay our respects. A dear friend of his passed away recently, and we hoped to visit her final resting place."

The woman nodded and leaned over her desk a bit. "I see. Well we would be happy to show you to floor twenty where your friend was-"

Merlin interrupted, clearing his throat again. "Ma'am, my son's friend was an Absol." He explained, his face falling slightly as a part of his act. "This one here's mother." He held an arm out to his side, pointing at Razier. The Pokémon nodded slowly, doing her best to look upset.

The woman murmured below her breath for an instant, looking over her shoulder to check if there was anyone else around, then turned back to Merlin. "Absols are… left underground…" She said nervously, her eyes darting about in case somebody should enter. "their spirits have a tendency to… be disrupting… and so we have a separate section for certain Pokémon."

"May we visit this section?" Merlin pressed.

"I'm afraid not." The woman informed him regretfully. "We have a policy of keeping people out of these sections."

"I told you they wouldn't." Alex grunted to Merlin from behind and crossed his arms with disappointment. "I told you this all along! I knew we shouldn't have buried her here, we should have buried her beside that tree she liked, but _noooooo,_ she had to come here! And now look what you've done!" He pointed furiously at Razier beside him, seething angrily. "She can't see her own damn mother! This is your fault, dad!"

"Please, please! Calm down!" The woman intervened quickly, waving her hands between the two parties to prevent a full-blown war from sparking. "We might be able to make an exception, but just this once, if necessary…" Alex and Merlin looked at each other with shocked expressions, then turned back to the woman.

"Really?" Alex asked softly. The woman nodded.

"If it will put you at ease." She bent down for a second and hit a button under her desk, then removed a mic frim underneath. "Patricia, cover for me can you? I have some business to attend to…" She replaced the mic and stood back up again. "Come with me, I'll show you the way to the underground levels."

Alex and Merlin followed the woman as she led the way through the dark, dank corridors underground. At the lead was a Houndoom, mouth full of fire and lighting the way, ready to deal with anything that should come up. Torches lining the walls of the stone tunnel quickly developed a trend of putting themselves out as the group passed. "They're just trying to scare us." The woman had explained, then gone on to compare it to being a "ghostly practical joke". This went fine by Alex, who decided to play back, relighting the torches as they were snuffed out by the unknown forces. Haley even helped with a couple.

Merlin turned over his shoulder and whispered only just loud enough for Alex to hear. "We're about to take a detour." Alex nodded, then bent down and placed a hand on the heads of Haley and Razier, walking on either side of him. They nodded in unison.

"Just a right up here…" The woman took a right, following her Houndoom. Merlin quickly ducked around to the left, and Alex and the Pokémon quickly followed. They all headed around a couple more corners, trailing after Merlin, before he stopped.

"all right. She won't be able to find us here." Merlin decided, reaching to his belt and removing his pokéball. He dropped it, and the frame of his Smeargle appeared before everybody. "Derrick, give us some light can you?"

Derrick nodded, and his tail rose above his head. The smear of black paint on the end of his tail glowed a little with an ominous purple, then lit up. A strange, dark light was cast over the surrounding passage, not bright but enough to see properly.

Alex felt something else. The whole time he had been in the underground levels he had that feeling he was being watched by something hiding in a shadow somewhere, but it just sort of retreated. He tried to convince himself it was because they feared the light, but there was just something else nagging at him.

"Here's one…" Merlin said after a moment of running his fingers along the wall and feeling for something. "Derrick. You know what to do."

"Smeargle." He nodded and placed a paw on the wall just beneath Merlin's hand.

"_There's something I don't like about him…"_ Haley told Alex privately. Her eyes narrowed a little as Derrick's pal glowed purple. _"I can't pin my finger on it…"_

"(Oh… damn…)" Razier shuddered for a moment.

"Razier?" Alex turned his head to look down at the rather irked looking Absol at his side.

"(That's some pretty dark stuff there…)" She observed as a loud crack sounded, but she just continued staring at Derrick. Haley translated very quickly, looking around for the source of the sound. The two Pokémon jumped as the wall in front of derrick suddenly parted. A crack split the wall in a second, and then the halves just slid apart, a low rumbling sounding as they did.

"Well…" Merlin stooped as he entered the gap. "Come on then…" Alex followed after Derrick, then Haley, then Razier at the back of the group, feeling suddenly uncomfortable. She didn't know why, but she really didn't like Derrick. Absols sometimes got feelings about others.

"(I don't like him.)" Razier pushed past Haley quickly and hugged to Alex's leg with a barely audible whine, looking up to him for support. Alex stooped and petted her head as he followed down the descending staircase, going deeper into the bowels of this mysterious structure.

Haley muttered under her breath as she watched Alex pet Razier. She had to stop for just a second to slap herself using a psychic force. **I'm being immature.** She concluded as she started up again quickly, trotting to Alex's heel. **I'm being jealous… stop being jealous!**

"(Haley?)"

"(Hmm?)" Haley turned to Razier as her mind was brought back to the real world again. Razier was frowning, watching Haley over her shoulder.

"(You can talk to Alex, right?)" Haley nodded. "(Can you… ask him to return me?)" Haley stared at Razier uncomfortingly, but disbelievingly. She nodded.

"_Alex."_

"Yeah?" He replied without turning his focus from the path ahead.

"_Razier wants to be returned."_

Alex sighed, shaking his head. "Haley, I know that you feel-"

"_It's true."_ Haley interrupted. Alex looked down as Razier nudged his knee, and she nodded up at him. He looked back at Haley and shrugged, then grabbed his pokéball from his waist and returned the Absol to the capsule.

"What was that about?" He asked back as Haley trotted faster to reach his side where Razier had been.

"_I think she's scared…"_ Haley said unsurely, thinking Razier didn't look like an easy Pokémon to scare.

"Of the dark?" Alex demanded, wondering how a dark type could be afraid of the dark.

Haley shook her head. _"Of derrick."_

Alex remained silent for a second to take that in, and see if Haley was going anywhere. She wasn't. "I thought it was just me…" He murmured to himself. "There's something strange about him, that's for sure." He whispered. If he spoke too loud he might hear them. "The black tail is the first giveaway, it should be green."

"_And don't forget what Razier warned about."_ Haley reminded him.

"I'll keep an eye on him." Alex confirmed.

Everybody walked for another minute before the slowly curving stair levelled out, coming straight out into a great chamber. The rock ceiling was supported by huge support beams of more stone. Altars of all descriptions were lined up all along the walls with tablets above them, depicting various abstract events. The entire place was dressed in a dull shade of dusty, dark grey. At the end of the chamber was a slightly larger altar, centred between the longer walls against the far one.

"Ready up." Merlin suggested as he and derrick moved for the altar at the end. "Derrick and I will handle our part, but when the spirits arrive, that's when we'll need you."

"Your part?" Alex asked as he continued after Merlin, looking all around. "What?"

"Derrick and I must perform the reading." Merlin said unhelpfully. "A very dark thing, this reading. The kind to draw malevolent spirits."

"Malevolent huh?" Alex nodded passively. "So… what would my mum say about all this behaviour?" He and Haley jumped as a sharp sound cut through the air. Merlin chuckled, stopping on the spot and clutching his stomach. He was laughing.

"Oh… boy…" He grinned widely at Alex. "She would have A LOT to say, I assure you." He said vaguely, resuming his stride towards the altar.

"Well this sounds promising." Alex observed the tablets on the walls around the room with a growing sense, halfway between dread and excitement. He was weird like that.

"_Well this is just great."_ Haley added with a grunt. _"Ghosts. Yaaaay… not…"_

Alex grinned and crouched beside Haley. He took her muzzle in both hands with his antagonistic grin. "Aaaw, it's okay Haley, I'll protect you from the big, bad ghosties."

"_Shaddup."_ Haley pawed his face away with a reassured grin. _"In case you didn't notice, psychic attacks aren't very effective against ghost types…"_

"Duh. Fire." Alex grinned wider as he stood up, and threw his arms in the air. "TURN UP THE HEAT!" Haley facepalmed in embarrassment.

"_You are an idiot."_

Merlin removed a scroll from his backpack and rolled it out on the altar. It was covered in red and black runic symbols and patterns, all of them seeming to shimmer in the darkness. "Well, do your thing Derrick." He told the Smeargle beside him. Derrick nodded and stood on his toes to look just over the edge of the altar. His tail rose behind him and came down on the scroll. "Here we go, Alex!"

Alex spun around, disengaging in his argument with Haley to enthusiastically yell: "Bring it on!" And punched the air. His fist ignited with a sharp crack as he punched, and he was soon holding a flame in his palm, lighting the room up with an orange glow, lighting up his wild grin as his hair blew a little in a breeze from somewhere.

Merlin cleared his throat as he began whatever his reading was. "_Huur'r-ashk-nyaaae'ayaaa… heiy-hovisch-amandaa'aaa…" _He droned in some unknown tongue. About them, the walls and ceiling of the chamber began shaking on cue with Merlin's chanting. Derrick proceeded to swipe across the scroll with his tail, painting black marks across it and ignoring the events taking place around him.

"Arnold!" A woman shot around the corner through a doorway, barely keeping her balance and grabbing hold of the doorframe to steady herself on the shaking floor. "Arnold, what's going on?"

The man she was talking to turned around quickly, buttoning a white tuxedo, underneath which was a Kevlar vest. "Patricia, did anybody go into the underground today?" His voice remained calm and level as he spoke, staring Patricia in the eyes.

She shook her head quickly, but her shaking ceased as she remembered something. "Marianne… Marianne had me take over at the reception because she had something to do… I was on floor three, I didn't see her pass me going up, so she either left the building or…" She went silent briefly. "You don't think she went down there? She's not supposed to…"

Arnold shook his head as he walked towards the security office locker. "No, not Marianne, I would have been able to tell after these years working with her…" He turned the dial on a numeric padlock, dropping the interior tumblers into place.

"Been able to tell what?" Patricia had to steady herself again on a nearby desk. The entire building was shaking, like an earthquake. The locker door crashed into the adjacent locker as Arnold threw it open.

"Darkrai." Arnold yanked an M1A4 assault rifle from the locker and slapped a clip into it. "Darkrai is in the tower…"


	11. Rock ur werld

Chapter 11

Rock ur werld

-v^v^v^v-

Sh-sh-sh-Sh-sh-shake-it.

"Merlin! Here they come!" Alex shouted, standing ready and crouched with Haley beside him.

"Just keep them off me and derrick!" Merlin called over his shoulder, his hands pressed onto the surface of the altar. Alex nodded and threw his hands down at his sides, flexing his fingers to loosen up and breathing heavily. He swayed slightly from side-to-side, rolling his shoulders a little. Beside him, Haley was standing with her legs wide apart, crouched somewhat with her tails hovering in the air, occasionally twitching. The two of them stared at the entrance to the chamber, ready to jump at the first sign of movement.

Haley nearly leapt off her back foot as something landed the doorway, clinking as it bounced off the floor and stone. Alex squinted at the object, trying to see it through the partially obscuring darkness of the corridor outside. Haley jumped as the thing made a short sound, like air expelling from somewhere.

"_What is it?"_ Haley asked, watching the doorway as it appeared to brighten a little. Alex made an amused sound, like a grunt.

"That's smart of them." He commented sarcastically, watching keenly. "They're using smoke." He nodded slightly, still watching as the grey smoke hissed from the hidden canister. "You know what they say about smoke?"

Haley facepalmed. "_Please don't-"_

"Where there's smoke…" Alex lit up a little fireball in his hand. "There's-"

"Fire!"

"Fuck!" Alex dived aside as the air filled with blasting and ricocheting of bullets whizzing through the air.

"Motherfuckers!" Alex yelled, tossing his fireball randomly into the smoke. "Thermal optics! Haley, light them up!" Haley leapt up from her dodge roll and loosed a flamethrower into the smoke, her fur blowing back as the air exploded in front of her. "No, keep moving and attack!" Alex instructed, running around to attack from the side. In a sudden pang of somewhat genius, he lit up another fireball in his left hand. As more bullets pinged overhead he dived. As he hit the floor he tossed the fireball, skimming it across the ground. The fireball streaked across the floor between Haley and the smoke, sparking wildly and lighting the ground as it went. The flames from the fire grew upwards quickly between Haley and the enemy. Alex hoped it would fuck with their thermal sights and keep her safe.

"Wartortle! Water gun!" Alex cried out as the smoke parted and a stream of water jetted from within, striking him in the chest. He landed heavily on his back and bounced off the rock, landing on his side. He grimaced and lifted himself to his feet as a shape emerged from the smoke. A Wartortle of course, but over his eyes he wore a pair of thermal goggles of some sort.

The Pokémon grinned as it came to a stop. "Wartortle!" It cried, raising a middle digit. Alex stared back in shock.

"You sonuvabit-" He dived sideways as another water gun shot past. "Dammit!" He leapt back to his feet. "Haley, use psychic, or confusion, or something! Idunno!" Alex leapt aside again as another water gun shot past. Haley's eyes lit up blue as did her tails, and she threw her mouth open, spewing a mass of psychic energy towards the Wartortle. The Pokémon made a doomed dive sideways, but the psychic wall crashed into him, sending him flying into the stone wall or the chamber. "Alright!" Alex called to her, looking from the Wartortle to the smoke. "Give me some cover! Light them up again!"

Haley nodded, and launched another flamethrower towards the group, drawing their fire in her general direction for Alex to charge in from the side. But seeing all the bullets heading her way, he changed his mind. "Light screen!" Haley knew not to question Alex in this situation, and threw up a barrier in front of herself. Alex ignited a couple of fireballs, and leaping into the air assailed the smoke covered doorway. He dived into the smoke while he thought the enemy was retreating, and immediately took in as deeper a breath as he could. It felt slightly gritty, but rather pleasant somehow, and the smoke, cloud mostly dissipated as he charged past through it. He quickly ducked around behind a pillar as the men leapt around the doorway again, now out of their smoke, and opened fire.

"Roselia! Razor leaf!"

"Golem! Rock throw!"

Alex leapt out from behind the pillar as a rather large rock smashed into it from the newly emerged Golem's hand. The column seemed to hang in static for a moment of creaking and crumbling before it broke through the centre and came crashing down, exploding into rubble as I tsmashed into the ground. Alex cringed as a razor leaf sliced his left arm, almost releasing his breath, but he managed to catch it at the last moment. He ran around behind the fire wall just before the men started firing, then threw his mouth open. At first a cloud of smoke burst out, rolling towards the men like a mushroom cloud, but then it randomly erupted into a fireball from somewhere inside, igniting the smokle with a red flash. The flames surged forth across the ground and swept through the doorway. A few lucky men managed to step aside, but it was too late. The fireball hit the group of men and exploded, scattering their burning bodies throughout the room. The Golem managed to curl into a defence curl, and his boulder-like form shot across the room at speed.

"Merlin!" Alex yelled, diving into the rock ball as it shot towards the oblivious man at the altar. He put in his shoulder and hit it side-on at full strength. Alex was immediately thrown back by the impact, but managed to divert the boulder Pokémon to the right just enough to avoid hitting Merlin at his altar. "Haley, psychic!" Alex called, watching the Golem. Nothing happened. "Haley! Psychic!" He called. "What are you-" He turned to Haley and stopped. Her tails hung as she stared at Alex, shuddering. "What?" He asked. Haley let out a quiet whimper, and continued staring. "What's so..?" Alex stopped short as he turned around also. The wall seemed to be a slight purple, and from the middle of it, was a head. The head of an Absol.

Next came a paw, then another paw, then the Absol stepped out of the wall. Its fur was a pale grey, and Alex could almost swear he could see the wall through- "Ghost!" He yelled, pointing. The Absol snapped its head on an impossible angle, cracking its neck, and released a horrible ear splitting shriek, its eyes turning red and maw dripping with venomous ooze. "What the fuck is that!" Alex demanded, backing up in fear as he couldn't take his eyes off the demented Absol. The Pokémon lowered its head slowly, eyes glowing menacingly and growling, baring its oozing purple fangs and lumbering towards the two.

Merlin turned his head to see what was happening, and swore. "Maric…" He hissed coldly, eyes boring into the Pokémon. The Absol jerked his head to face Merlin, cocking it slightly as it looked him up and down, then grinned coldly.

"_You…"_ It said quietly, its voice resonating through the chamber eerily. Alex snapped his fingers together, cracking the air and igniting his hands once again. His teeth, now curiously sharp, ground together as he crouched low, ready to fight.

"Merlin, is this something I should know about?" Alex demanded darkly, watching the ghost Absol closely. Haley behind him simply stared, petrified and shaking.

The Absol smirks wider. "_Merlin? That's what you're going by now? Very well then. Merlin…"_

"Leave, Maric." Merlin instructs with a growl, taking one hand off the altar and pointing to the Absol. "You know what happened last time you crossed me."

"_Oh, yes, I do remember."_ Maric says with a tinge of mocking in his voice. _"I have no wish to do so once again."_ Maric turned his head around to stare at Haley, giving her a gut-wrenchingly uncomforting grin. _"But this one… mmm… she looks nummy-nummy-tasty…"_

"Hey!" Alex skidded into the space between Haley and the Absol, staring it down hard as his fear was banished, and fury clouded his eyes, tingeing orange suddenly and beginning their wavering. "You stay away from her!" He yelled, tensing his flaming hands and breathing heavily and huskily with heated air passing in and out of his lungs.

Maric took a step back quickly, staring back curiously. _"Arceus, you found him…"_ He muttered with his eyes growing wider in shock and awe, watching Alex swagger side to side slightly, drunk with sudden rage. _"You found him…"_

"I did." Merlin said slowly with a satisfactory grin, scratching his beard and watching Alex with a sense of victory. Maric threw him a quick, disgusted glance, then stared back at Alex.

"_It seems I've bitten off a little more than I can chew…"_ Maric observed sourly, venom dripping at a quicker pace from his fangs. He growled a bit as he took another step back.

Alex quickly reacted with a greater, guttural growl from deep, baring his teeth as his eyes went a little hazy with an overall orange tint, even in the whites. The Absol quickly jumped back further as he snapped at him with hiss, off his marble and out of control.

"_Very well then…"_ The Absol began backing away. "_Very well… I shall leave you be…"_ With one last flash of his fangs, Maric turned away and headed for the wall where he had emerged from.

"Hold up." Maric stopped. Merlin wasn't going to give up while he was ahead. Alex turned to Merlin, still seething. Merlin grinned cruelly. "Alex, you heard what he said to Haley…" Merlin taunted with a devilish grin. "Are you going to let him get away with that?" Alex swung his gaze back to the Absol. "Are you going to let him disrespect her like that? Your… mate?"

**Mate?** Alex thought, looking at Haley over his shoulder, cowering in fear and hiding her head in her paws. He swung back to the Absol, whose composure had dropped several metres at that last comment of Merlin's. "No…" He hissed, taking a step towards the Absol. He had scared her, terrified her… he had insulted her… he had to die.

Maric glared at Merlin with a spiteful growl, narrowing his eyes as they flicked back and forth between him and Alex. He had stirred just a little too much shit this time.

Maric realised he wasn't going anywhere, and so instead of backing off, he flicked his head back towards Alex with a roar, stirring the stale, thousand year old air around him into a frenzy and launching the mass of air towards his opponent. Alex charged to meet the blast, but as it neared him he leapt into the air, kicking down into the top of the razor wind with a blaze kick as he crested it and detonating the force holding it together. The air inside, now released of its binds, exploded outwards like a shockwave. Alex's body was propelled further into the air by the outgoing wind, and higher over the Absol's head. He drew back one hand as the air sparked to life, flashing with a flicker of yellow then blasting into flames in his palm. He held the fireball overhead and swung it down with a furious cry, pointing two fingers at his target as the projectile flew from his palm.

Maric was too quick though, to be struck by such an obvious attack, and dodged left, his body disappearing and reappearing in a blur as the fireball collided with force right where he had been standing previously. His fur blew upwards slightly away from the impact, and the flash of light of the explosion lit up his furious grimace horridly, causing Haley, staying way back, to re-cover her eyes. Something about ghosts just got to her. Something inside her snapped at her, furious that she would let something like that get to her, but on the exterior, she was petrified.

Maric saw his chance as Alex was rendered airborne, and swung his bladed horn again, recycling the air from the previous attack and throwing it at Alex for a second time. He couldn't dodge now, being exposed in mid-air, and so he only had one option. He threw his head forwards with an almighty roar, conjuring up the fire he held so deeply in his soul, and spewing it from his gullet. The air lit up brightly as the epic wave of fire surged into the air, growing as it swallowed up what precious oxygen this dank air held. The razor wind seemed to scythe straight through Alex's attack, the blades of air throwing apart some of his fire, and throwing right back at him what remained of his attack. The flaming blades of wind slashed and sliced his skin painfully like a never ending assault, gashing and tearing his clothing madly with numerous series of psycho cuts all over his body as he screamed in pain.

Maric upturned a grin as he watched the boy's limp, flaming body fall from the air helplessly, and land with a thump, stirring a cloud of dust where it hit the stones. He looked to his left at Merlin. "_Looks like your little protégé could use a little work." _He commented confidently, flashing his fangs. _"Well then…"_ He turned his head slowly to Haley, who was still watching in horror, having just seen her best friend, her friend she loved, cut down right out of the air. _"Looks like I might be enjoying a nice snack after all-"_

Merlin cut the Absol off as a rumbling arose from his throat. He threw open his mouth as he let loose with his loud, rumbling laughter, filling the room with his slightly creepy cackling. Maric hissed in annoyance as he turned his stance to face the man, licking his lips with his venom laced tongue, gliding across his razor teeth. "You really shouldn't have said that Maric." Merlin said once he had finished laughing. "Oh, no… that was a very unwise thing to do…"

It finally came to Maric's attention what that little thing that had been bothering him was. What little remained of the cloud of dust floating around the boy's "body" was glowing an eerie orange, like a sunrise piercing light cloud cover. _"He's still alive?"_ He demanded as he turned back to the cloud.

Merlin grunted, removing his hand from the altar behind him and crossing his arms. Nobody noticed a little black mark that had suddenly appeared on his palm, nor noticed how the altar glowed ominously behind him. "It's going to take more than that to kill the judge."

To accentuate Merlin's words as the cloud rolled away to the sides, Alex, now standing, jerked his head to the right, sounding a rather loud crack in his neck. He lifted one foot and dropped it with great force, spreading it wider, then the other, spreading his legs out and crouching low. His eyes by now were fully orange, burning ferociously with hate as orange steam clung close to his body, slowly rising in a fine mist. (Yeah… I've been watching too much Naruto) He threw his head back, releasing the most gut-wrenching roar that put even the demented Absol to shame, rocking the building itself with its epic shaking power. From the ceiling above, rocks came tumbling down, falling free of their formations and shattering on the floor it puffs of dust and shrapnel chunks firing in all directions.

Maric bore his teeth once more in frustration, realising he had been stupid to think that would finish the judge off in the first place. He hung his head and concentrated, outlining his physical body in his mind. _"Very well then. Alex." _He lifted his head again as the air about him flashed and warped, changing it into a seven copies of himself. _"Let's play a game. Which Absol is the real Absol?"_ He almost queried mockingly as the white shapes darted off in all directions, spreading across the room. Maric repeated: "_Which Absol is the real Absol?... Which Absol is the real Absol?.."_

"I don't care." Alex barked, his voice hanging with menace and rasping as if it were being dragged through a cheese grater. "I'll kill them all!" He spun around as a fireball flashed into each hand, and he threw both of them, one after the other. The Absol dodged the first one, but couldn't double back in time to avoid the second blast. The Absol was knocked back through the air for a second, then it disappeared into the air. A projection.

Three Absols came charging at him head on, dashing and ducking and diving in and out evasively. Alex quickly registered that the Absol wouldn't attack him head on like that, and so as he lit up another fireball in his hand, he instead targeted one sitting further back. The Absol didn't see the move coming, and the fireball struck just before it could dodge. Sure enough, the three Absols charging him ran straight into him, and dissipated on contact, as did the one he hit. That left two more. One Absol stood on his left, the other on his right, each twirling its head around, churning up a razor wind.

"_Which one is it Alex?"_

"_Which one is it Alex?"_ Both copies spoke simultaneously. Clever.

Alex grew another fireball in his hand, this time feeling a sudden tugging feeling in his stomach. He had to finish this. It was draining on his power. He outstretched his hand towards the one on his right, and grinned. "Eany…" He turned around to point the fireball at the one on his left. "…meany…" Right again. "…Minie…" left. "Mo!" His hand flicked forwards, but instead of throwing his fireball, Alex quickly created one in his free hand, and threw it backwards. He listened carefully as the fireball collided with the ground behind him, watching the Absol in front of him carefully. It didn't budge. The real one would have moved. He turned around and began walking towards the Absol lying on his side, struggling back to his feet.

"Oh, no." Alex taunted, lifting another fireball and tossing it, almost casually at the Absol, blasting it off its feet again another couple of feet away. "Don't get up." He walked towards the Absol with an angry stare, gritting his teeth as he stopped overtop.

The Absol pried open one red eye, and stared hatefully at the boy standing over him, cracking his knuckles with a warped grin. "_No…"_

"Yes." Alex fell forwards, and swung down with all his might, sending his fist into the Absol's head with full force.

The Pokémon just seemed to detonate on impact. His body just disappeared, exploded into a shockwave of ghostly purple mist, whipping up a surge of wind across the ground as Maric's last vengeful shriek split the air. Alex stayed there, kneeling with his fist against the cracked ground as he watched the haze sort of hang in the air around him, slowly wafting away from him and towards the walls again, where it had come from. He couldn't, of course, kill something that was already dead, but he had a feeling Maric wouldn't be bothering him again.

"_Alex!_" He jerked his head around to find Haley sprinting towards him, now freed of her petrification. His eyes suddenly cleared and the glow surrounding him died out as he turned on his heel and held his arms out, allowing Haley to bowl him clear over onto his back as she tackled him. She landed with her legs on either side of him and quickly proceeded to lick his face affectionately.

Alex laughed and took hold of her muzzle gently, lifting it away from his face. "Stop it…" He laughed as he sat upright. Haley stopped immediately, and sat back on his legs obediently. He cocked his head as they exchanged blank looks, and finally grinned. "Okay, keep going. I like it." Haley pounced on him with a mental squeal of ecstatic joy, overwhelmed with relief he was okay.

"_Thank you, Alex."_ She said with a particularly long slathering of saliva up his cheek. _"I'm sorry, but I was just so scared…"_ Alex grinned and reached one hand up and around her neck, grabbing her by her scruff and scratching a bit, much to her pleasure as she ceased her licking to fall onto him murring.

"It's okay, Haley." He reassured her with a little peck no the snout, making her blush a bit with a sheepish glance at his eyes. "We're all scared of something."

"_Really?"_ Haley lifted her head with a curious look at Alex. _"What are you scared of then?"_ In response, Alex reached up and grabbed Haley by the scruff of the neck again, and pulled her back into him, hugging her again.

He said, in his most sincere tone: "Losing you." Haley's heart leapt as his words melted into her heart. He did that thing again with his voice, that strange, mysterious thing that left his words hanging at the edge of her ear, balancing so delicately for what seemed like forever. That thing that just put that edge in his voice, that edge that made his words just seem so much more intense, that thing in his voice he used to ease her as a Vulpix when he promised never to hurt her. ever.

She flattened her head into his neck, nuzzling into him furiously, desperately craving all his attention at that moment as she brushed and rubbed up against him over and over affectionately. _"I don't want to lose you either… never, ever, ever…"_ Alex grinned softly as he let Haley nuzzle and push into his neck. It just felt so nice, not just the feeling on his skin, but the whole scene of just lying there with Haley rubbing against him lovingly. It was immensely comforting.

"All right then." Merlin spoke up after a slightly frustratingly long "huggy-scratchy" session. "We better get going." Haley stood up and stepped off Alex, allowing him to sit upright.

"Did you get whatever you needed done?" He asked as he climbed to his feet, dusting off his slacks a bit.

Merlin turned to Derrick over his shoulder. Derrick nodded, grinning somewhat uncomfortingly. "That's a yes." Merlin clarified as he turned back to Alex. "Now let's get out of here before any more of those guys show up."

Alex and Haley followed Merlin as he lead the way back outside the chamber and back into the corridor, where white-clad bodies decorated the place, burnt pieces of fabric clinging to their scorched skin. Alex stopped as he felt Haley tug on his ankle. He turned around as Haley inspected him with a worried look.

"_Are you sure you're okay?"_ She asked as she saw all the cuts in his clothing, now bloodied from his wounds. Alex looked down at his body and shrugged.

"I'm fine."

_Bang…_

The corridor rung sharply. Haley blinked quickly, not understanding what was going on. Alex looked down to where his hand had slid up over his shoulder. He took it away slowly, revealing a bloody patch on his hand and in his clothing. He gulped as his balance suddenly took a bad turn. "Haley…" He said with a sinking feeling. "I don't think I'm fine anyy_yy-"_ Merlin swept past and caught Alex as he fell, whipping a pistol from his side with a roar, and firing off three shots into the previously "dead" man in a tux.

Haley's eyes stared straight ahead, remaining fixed where she had been looking at Alex when he was standing. _"Alex…"_ She called through psychic, still staring.

"Shit!" She heard Merlin call from beside her.

"_Alex?"_ She called sullenly, suddenly rushing to her trainer's side as Merlin held his head up off the ground, swearing.

"H…Haley..?" He murmured, prying his eyes open, despite his vision being a mere blur.

"_Alex! Hang in there!"_ She cried, her heart pounding as her head flicked side to side, desperately searching for something to do to help.

"_Hal…ey… come here…"_ Alex murmured. Haley was quickly next to him, her head close to his.

"_What is it? What?"_ Using the last of his suddenly dying strength, Alex lifted his head forwards, and kissed Haley on the nose. It lasted a fraction of a second before he fell back in exhaustion. His lips parted, and his voice rose, crackly and raspy, but unmistakeable:

"_When I'm gone, just carry on, don't mourn or rejoice," _He started with a growing grin as Merlin frantically dug through his backpack, swearing still, _"every time you hear the sound of my voice- just know that, I'm looking down on you smiling…" _his next words came choked, pained gurgles as his hand softly played on her foreleg, but Haley understood the last line far too clearly. _"…so Haley don't feel no pain, just smile back…"_

Everything went black.


	12. Revelations

Chapter 12

Revelations

What am I?

"_Hmm?"_

…

…

…

Like a sun rising over a cloudy horizon, light filtered through Alex's eyelids. Blue light, tinged white, and annoyingly bright. **Where am i? what am I doing? How did I get here?**

_Bang…_

**Oh… that's right… crap. I got shot…** Alex squinted as he stared at the light hanging above him, two cylindrical fluorescent bulbs set in the light burning brightly. **Huh… I'm still alive…** He thought, remembering the lines he sung from Eminem's "When I'm gone". **Crap. I sung that for nothing?** He thought with his usual sense of humour returning. **Great, big, dramatic exit for nothing. Dammit. Sure, I can do it next time I die… but it just won't be the same…**

"Are you alright?" Alex turned his head on his pillow to see a young man wearing a doctor's uniform standing beside him, holding a clipboard in one hand. A pen was tucked behind one ear over a pair of reading glasses. His nametag read "Samson".

Alex raised one hand a little under his blanket to give a thumbs up, and felt a little pain nagging in his left shoulder. "I'm alright." He said with half a shrug, keeping his left shoulder still.

The doctor nodded as he read up and down his notepad once more. "You're a tough bastard, aren't you?"

Alex nodded with a grin. "You've got the right guy." He affirmed cockily, sitting upright. The doctor made a jump for him, but seeing how he didn't break into a frenzy of screaming and painful spasming, stopped halfway, watching him curiously. Alex half shrugged again. "Ain't that bad." He commented, looking at the bloody bandage wrapped under his arm. Seemed that the bullet had entered just below his shoulder and exited about the same place on the other side. A clean shot through, luckily. **Though, I'd have preferred not to get shot in the first place…** He thought as he poked the bloody patch carefully with his opposite arm. "So where's Haley?"

The doctor rested his clipboard on an end table beside the bed as he thought. "The Ninetails?" Alex nodded.

"That's her."

"She wasn't allowed to stay in here." Samson told him. "Pokémon are only allowed to stay a certain period. Though, we had an… interesting time getting her out of here, to say the least."

Alex grinned at this. "Yeah. That's my girl."

"She's obviously very attached to you by the way the others had to drag her out of the room. Lucky that older guy eased her a bit or she could've killed someone." Alex smiled at the image that created. Doctors trying to drag Haley out of the room. She would have put up a hell of a fight for sure. "Did you notice she's in heat?"

"What?" Alex snapped out of his daydream to stare at the doctor, his lip hanging slightly.

The doctor nodded, removing his glasses and placing them on the end table. "Yes. She's in heat."

"In… heat?" Alex asked as the doctor sat beside him in a soft chair. "Like… that sex thing female Pokémon do? When they… need to have sex?"

"Want to have sex." The doctor corrected him. "But they're really quite persistent about it, I'll tell you."

"Oh…" Alex's mind drifted off a little, a small feeling of embarrassment growing in his cheeks, but he hid it. All this time he had been flirting with a horny Pokémon without realising it. "I didn't know that…"

"I don't suppose…" Samson paused a bit, wondering if it was too personal or not. But he was a doctor for both humans and Pokémon, and felt he should give this boy as much details as he could about what was going on. "I don't suppose she used to be a breeder, did she?"

Alex stared for a bit. Technically, yes, she had been. Could Samson pick up on something? Deciding the doctor already knew the truthful answer, and lying would only make him suspicious, Alex said: "Yes. How did you know?"

"It's all in the timing." Samson continued, feeling pleased to be in his field of expertise. "Ninetails' usually regulate through their heat in such a way that their heat falls in spring. Now is summer, so this indicates she has been regularly bred."

"What?" Alex shook his head with a shrug.

"It's all in her head." Samson tapped his forehead with one finger. "Pokémon who receive sexual stimulation regularly, breeders, become accustomed to sexual stimulation, and therefore their brain causes the body to crave that stimulation as regularly as they are usually bred. I assume by your lack of knowledge in this field, that you weren't her breeder?"

Alex shook his head. "My dad bred her." He answered, literally.

"That's what I thought." Samson confirmed. "Say, for example, she was bred every month. After her breeding stops, her heat still continues, still expecting that same stimulation every month that she would receive." Alex nodded for him to continue, listening carefully. "Especially abusive breeders, such as ones who breed every few days or so, since young Pokémon develop in their mothers astonishingly quickly, let their Pokémon bear egg, let them lay the egg, then breed them right afterwards, almost three days after they first fall pregnant. Those Pokémon, after being freed of their breeders, continue with their heat cycles every few days, craving the sexual attention they are so used to." Alex stared at the man, realising what this meant for Haley.

"They can't go three days without craving _sex?"_ The doctor nodded. Alex fell back onto his pillow; a new dilemma had emerged now. "That's so… sad…"

"It is unfortunate." The doctor agreed solemnly.

"So… what advice do you have for me?" He asked. "For Haley?"

"Just keep her away from males whenever she falls into heat." The doctor suggested. "The males are aroused by her scent and will try to mate her."

"Right." Alex nodded. "Keep away males."

"Especially fire types." The doctor cut in quickly, causing Alex's heart to sink suddenly. "Fire types are the worst." The doctor glared, shaking his head. "Those idiots are so full of hormones and get so fired up, it's hard as hell to get them off once they get riled."

"All fire types?" Alex asked, suddenly a lot quieter.

"All of them." The doctor said with a nod. "Runs in their genetic code. They just can't resist, especially a when there's a fiery Ninetails in need of attention. They love them."

The first thing that came into Alex's head:** Craaaaaaaap!** He gulped, but the doctor wasn't done yet sharing his depth of knowledge in this field, and was enjoying himself, feeling intelligent.

"And you even have to watch out for the subtlest things." He continued. "Sometimes you think it's okay between the two. You think they act normal, but they're actually flirting."

"Flirting?" Alex repeated, his sinking feeling hitting the seabed.

"A common practice among Pokémon is biting and licking and grabbing, if they have hands." He explained. "Always around the neck and head. The don't realise it, but it's in their DNA to bite or hold the scruff of their mate's neck as they mount, and they do this without realising it, like they're naturally preparing to mount the other."

**I'm so boned.** Alex thought with a dreadful, nervous twitch, remembering all the attention he had been unwittingly paying to Haley's neck, rubbing and scratching and grabbing. His mind was trying to root her!

"But you may want to consider finding her an acceptable mate." The doctor added. "Pokémon can go through a lot of agony in their heat if they aren't stimulated, and seeing how close you two are I really don't think you want to see her go through that and see her hurt." Alex shook his head, worrying further. Somehow this guy knew just what to say so sink his heart in his chest. "So catch her a good water type maybe? I've known people to use water types or ice types to wean fire types out of their heat. The contrast dulls the sensation apparently, and the dulling reduces the frequency."

"So…" Alex knew he shouldn't ask, but did anyway. "Say I have a fire type for her, what effect would that have?" The doctor murmured in his throat, taking his pen from behind his ear and chewing the top.

"Well…" The doctor thought. "In the presence of just another fire type, such as a random straggler, like a Growlithe you may pick up, her heat will continue at whatever frequency it is at.

**Dammit!**

"However…" The doctor pointed the end of his pen at Alex. "When a fire type female grows attached to a fire type male, there is a slight chance that she may _increase_ her heat frequency due to the bond the two share, in anticipation of mating with her desired male." Alex went silent. "But this is of course, only in the case of a fire type. Whatever the connection is, a water type would still wean her off slowly."

**I am so boned. So, so very boned…** "Well that's a bit of a bummer…" Alex pressed masochistically. "She's pretty close to this other fire type I have…"

"Well I advise you be very careful when you have them both released at the same time." Alex nodded with a hidden gulp.

**This is not good… not… good… at all…**

Samson had handed Alex a note before he left, following a not too persuasive effort to keep him in bed, but Alex had none of it, and thrown on his clothes being careful of his shoulder and headed out. He simply slipped the note into his pocket passively as his mind focussed solely on one thing burning in the front of his mind.

West. He didn't even need to read the note, he knew where Haley was, and he was heading straight there.

As Alex entered the park, he decided to finally dig the note from his pocket. Sure enough, the directions enclosed plotted directions to where he was. He half-folded half scrunched the paper and thrust it back into his torn pocket. All his clothing still bore the scars of battle, as did his body. Though oddly enough he didn't mind the little extra attention he received from passers-by.

The trees in the park were tall pines, flaky, dry leaves hanging from spiny, spindly branches, like giant arrays of needle clusters even though the leaves were soft to the touch. They just rose up everywhere, dotting the grassy field. That brilliant, fresh pine smell hung in the air, yet disturbingly enough, Alex was overwhelmed by a sudden urge to burn it all to a pile a ash, cutting a swathe through the nature's scent and letting it ascend to heaven from its frying floral corpse. He shuddered as he tried to shoulder the thought away. It was true what Haley said. The fire inside him was getting the better of him. **I only hope my Pokémon side doesn't get the better of me.** He added to that with a gulp. **Or of Haley…** Haley… he tried to focus his mind on Haley again, but his mind kept scrolling back to under that tower, fighting that Absol. Every time he remembered it he would just stop on the spot, breathing heavily. His movements were his own, but weren't controlled by him. His words came from somewhere else, but were still his. He had acted solely on impulsivity throughout that entire fight, starting when Maric had set him off with that comment he made to Haley, and from then on until the end of the fight, his brain had little say in what he said or did. Everything came from the heart… and Maric had hurt his heart.

He didn't want that, but part of him did. His body wanted that rush again, the rush of sparking the air, lighting it up from a mere spark into a burning sphere of death and throwing it into the enemy, shattering them with his explosive force. The rush of jumping and ducking and diving as death shot back at him, missing by mere inches. That colossal power he controlled, devastating all that it touched and razing it to the ground. He liked that animalistic side, that side leaving him under its control, but leaving everything else under their control… he liked it. He felt in touch with something in that fight, and through all the intensity and through the battle rocking to and fro, he felt some kind of inner calm… like his dream…

Something took hold of him, right then as he tried to remember.

'Alex. Come join me.' Alex's eyes burst open, a light of sorts pertaining from somewhere… But he saw fire. The unmistakeable tongues of flames which licked at his dreams, so hot they burned… or perhaps they weren't hot… no, they were hot, they burned and wavered with energy, like his soul… this was what was inside him. But now it had a voice… 'Alex.' It says. Alex turned around with a blank expression, wind whipping across his face. There was a man there. His shadowy blurry body seemed to be cloaked in darkness, yet the light of flames lit up his outline and his hair caught the colour of the fire…

'I know who you are' Alex's voice held strongly, glazed in a confidence he had never known, keeping calm despite the devastation around. The man turned. His outstretched hand held a flame. A small, blood red flame contained in the palm of his hand, a flame which yielded no light to give the figure a face. 'I thought so.' Alex. It was Alex.

'What is this?' His voice carried subtle venom, its potency great, yet haste, none.

'It's me.' Alex answered. The man's opposite hand revealed itself, unmerging from his side; his hand hovered over the flame, swirling over it slowly as the flames angled and tilted to his skin hungrily. His cold thin fingers reached into the touch of the flame and stroked it. Stroked it like a pet. Grooming the spires of red trailing from the central body. "I know you are. I can feel it." He said. He could feel the strokes at his inner being, each gentle touch tempering his soul, changing him.

Fire whipped through the air, slicing between Alex and himself in a wave, washing away the image as the flames spiralled around in a column. Alex stayed where he was. He wasn't afraid of the fire of the wall spinning around him and enclosing him in an infernal twister column around his body. A thin beam of light cut down, jutting out of the darkness above down the centre of the twister and onto Alex's face, and he stopped. The sinister blackness around him that was a background to the flames grew grey slowly. His white skin was illuminated by the twisting red and white lights about him as the world changed, and he was confused. The dancing blaze was reflected in his eyes, held set strongly in a gaze of dark fascination. The fire…. The heat he was feeling… the raw power of the flames, how they moved, live they lived… but it was different. The flames didn't flicker and flash as if they had a life of their own, he moved them. Each breath lowered the flames, then raised them on exhalation. The flames, their life, was not his life. He was their life.

He was engulfed wholly, not just by the flames but by the light, piercing shroud of darkness infinite and sweeping across him from everywhere. The black pit of fire he had once known, was a glowing void of life, personified as a twister of golden energy, wavering and shimmering.

"What… is this?" Alex's voice finally wavered itself, looking around quickly. The place that was his soul, his own dominion, was not what it appeared to be.

From somewhere, there was laughter. "You are such the narcissist, Alex." His own voice called back, cutting through the flaming twister. "The fire isn't evil, dumbass." He shut his eyes as the fire closed in on him, the column dragging its orange and crimson body of energy across his skin in an intense feeling of inner warmth as it became one with him. His eyes flashed open, something finally registering within him. "You see it now?"

"I get it…" He muttered. "Fire is balance… life and death…"

"Good…" from the flames, stepped forwards himself. Exactly the same torn clothing, exactly the same body, eyes, hair, everything. "Why are you so determined we are evil?" He asked innocently. "You're so sure I'm turning you into a monster, into an animal… I'm not." He said. "You're turning us into a monster because you're so severely misled as to what we are; I'm trying to keep us balanced, because I understand the other side." The other Alex stopped talking, and from his side his hand raised.

"_I am alpha."_ He said. Alex raised his hand to meet it.

"_I am omega." _Alex chanted after him, staring back into his eyes.

"_We are alpha."_ The other Alex said indefinitely. Alex paused for a second, realising what he was getting at.

"_We are omega."_

"_We are life…"_

"_We are death…"_ the other Alex was gone.

Alex stood alone, inside that vortex of fire encircling him, thinking. The other Alex was gone. There wasn't another Alex. There never was. He understood.

_I am alpha, I am omega._

_I am life. I am death. I am fire._

Alex's head shook, and he was back. He looked down at his hands, shaking his head slowly. **What the fuck?**

"_Alex!"_ his head jerked up at the surprise voice.

"Haley?"

"(Alex?)"

"(What? Where?)"

"(Where's Alex?)"

The bush ahead exploded, and a fluffy golden blur flew at Alex at full speed. Alex staggered backwards. "Arm… arm… careful of the arm-_ uugh!_" Haley tackled him at full speed with reckless disregard for his injury. "Shit!" Alex cursed, grabbing hold of his shoulder as a look of sudden pain crossed Haley's face.

"_Oh no-no-no!_" She quickly jumped off Alex and ran around his side. "_I'm sorry I'm so-so sorry I was just-"_ Haley cut off as Alex delivered her a sharp smack on the nose.

"Shaddup." He grinned as he sat upright, hiding a painful grimace beneath a smile. "It's okay, I can't feel anything anymore.

"(Alex!)" Alex's eyes went wide as suddenly the bush ahead exploded with more Pokémon.

"No-no-no-NO!"

…

…

"Well it's good to see you in one piece." Merlin commented as he poked the pile of dwindling embers with a stick for some reason, despite the afternoon air being pleasantly temperate.

"Yeah…" Alex threw the Pokémon behind him a quick glance, and then looked back with a sigh, a pain still twanging in his shoulder from the dogpile. He watched Merlin's stick with hazy eyes, a little fatigue beginning to spring up, but he wiped his eyes quickly with his thumb and forefinger and rid himself of it. "So… what happened with the tower?" He asked, forgetting how curious he had been earlier yesterday. "Did you get whatever done?"

Merlin looked to his right, at Derrick. The Smeargle wasn't paying attention, and had his mouth full to the brim with marshmallows. "Derrick?"

"Mmmf?" Derrick turned to Merlin.

"Did you get it done?"

Derrick nodded slowly. "Mmmf." He confirmed.

"So…" Alex drawled inconspicuously, scratching one hand on the back of Haley's neck without realising as she lay at his feet with a grin. "What was going on in there?" Merlin dropped his stick. It fell into the embers propped up on a rock.

He stood up slowly and stretched with a yawn. "Actually, there's something I need to talk to you about first." He made a "follow" gesture to Alex as he began walking away. Alex turned to Haley.

"Stay here, I'll be back soon." Haley nodded slightly with a short whine, opening one eye to watch Alex go.

Merlin trudged through the park for about a minute, before coming to a secluded spot under a different, larger tree. He turned around with that "confronting" sort of expression. "What can you tell me about that fight with the Absol?"

Alex shrugged, grinning a cocky grin as something came into his mind. "It was over 1,300 words long." Merlin stared, arms crossed. "What?" Alex shrugged again. "That's a pretty damn good length for a fight scene." He looked upwards and raised a high five to the sky. "Shot!"

Merlin glared. "Flattery's going to get you-"

(Shut it Merlin, the guy's talking..)

Merlin looked up now, blinking twice, then grunted, falling back against the tree. "Damn biased writer…"

"I'm the main character." Alex said with a shrug. "He' allowed to be biased."

(*snaps fingers* enough…)

Alex grinned sheepishly at the sky. "You're the boss." He said with a shrug. "But-"

(Nyeh! Less ass-kissing, more story)

Alex fell against the tree with a sigh, beside Merlin. "I'm not sure…" He said as memories came back of the experience he had just before Haley tackled him to the ground. "I was like… an animal…"

"That's how I would have put it." Merlin agreed.

"But it's okay." Alex pushed up off the tree, turning around and walking backwards slowly. "I had this conversation with myself about it. I think we're sorting it out. He… me just told me a couple of interesting things about myself… like an epiphany." He turned around and began walking back to their makeshift campsite.

Merlin grumbled in his throat a bit and followed after Alex. "Should that worry me as much as it does?"

"No." Alex said with a quick shrug. "He-slash-I just told me-slash-myself all this stuff about being "alpha and omega". I reckon I'm slowly beginning to understand what this is all about."

Merlin stopped. "He said alpha and omega?" he asked, a smile growing a bit.

"Yeah." Alex turned around. "And this stuff about "fire is balance" and so forth. I sort of get it. He-slash-I seemed to think that he-slash-I is-slash-am-"

"Stop it." Merlin cut in.

Alex shrugged again. "He says I'm not as much of a monster as I think I am, but I don't understand." He looked away again. "If I'm not an animal then what was that in the tower?"

Alex's head lifted a little as he felt a hand on his shoulder. "With great power comes great responsibility." Merlin stated simply. "You're just going through a weird phase with all your new power. You're still adjusting to all your changes in your body and mind, and that's why you went crazy like that. You don't know how to control yourself fully, the fire inside you."

"And I am still balancing." Merlin went silent briefly.

"You could say that." He said. "All fire types are like that at some point, and they lose control and go crazy, but they soon become used to it and have total control over it."

"You're saying I'm a fire type?"

"In heart and soul."

**Damn… **"One last thing." Alex turned back around to confront Merlin, staring him in the eyes. "Why were you egging me on? that was the thing that made me go off!"

"Because it unlocked something." Merlin said with a blank stare. "I did. I made you go crazy like that, but better then than another time. Now you know what can happen to you, and I dare say you learned quite a lot about yourself from that. And I wanted to see your power." Merlin grinned. "Like I said, you're going to become much stronger soon, and you're going to need to get used to a lot of power, so I suggest you prepare yourself." This time, Merlin left, leaving Alex behind in thought.

He stared at the ground as he thought about everything that happened, but one thing remained in his mind wholly.

"_You're so sure I'm turning you into a monster, into an animal… I'm not." He said. "You're turning us into a monster because you're so severely misled as to what we are; I'm trying to keep us balanced, because I understand the other side."_

"I'm not a monster. An animal… I'm not…" **But… I think I am..?**

It was getting dark now, and clusters of stars were beginning to dot the deep blue sky overhead, light peeking between the pine branches. Merlin had found some sleeping bags by some means, Alex decided not to ask how, and everyone was getting comfy around the fire. Well, everybody being Merlin and Derrick. Other Pokémon stored snug in their balls for now, Alex had towed Haley away from the campfire for reasons yet unknown to her.

"_Alex, what is this about?"_ Haley begged as she followed after him, no idea of what was going on. _"Is it the fire again?"_

**In a sense…** Alex thought with a grimace. "We need to have a talk." He said. It took him a hell of a lot of courage to decide to do this, but it had to be done. Alex turned to face Haley and sat down on a tree root. Haley quickly sat just before him. "Haley… are you feeling alright?"

Haley nodded, her face not revealing anything the matter. _"I'm fine… why? Is there something wrong with me..?_" She looked to her left and right, checking her coat over for anything that could be wrong.

"No, nothing…" Alex's voice went soft. "You're perfect…"

"_thank you…" _Haley leaned towards Alex, but he held up a hand to her nose, stopping her just gently enough so he wouldn't hurt her feelings.

"It's just a concern I have." Alex said, managing to keep his voice from going shaky. "Are you feeling any different from usual? Anything out of the ordinary?"

Haley shook her head, becoming worried herself. _"Not at all, but why do you insist on asking?"_

"I'm just making sure you're okay." Alex answered quickly. "But you've been through a lot. Pokémon in your situation have been known to get a little funny… they sometimes feel weird feelings… and stuff…" As Haley and Alex stared awkwardly at one another, something clicked.

"_You know…"_ Haley's heart sank.

"I do know…" Alex confirmed, keeping his voice as calming as he could in this situation. "You're in heat."

"_Alex, i-"_

"It's okay." Alex cut in quickly. "I understand. The doctor told me all about it… about what it does to you." Haley could do nothing but watch on, held immobile by silent guilt and shame now that Alex had found out how she was feeling, how lost she was to her body. "It's a natural thing… I just want to help keep you safe… that's all."

"_I'm fine…"_ Haley said, chancing a step closer to Alex and placing a paw on his knee with a slight tear. "_I can handle myself. I can hold off any male who may… attempt me… it's no concern." _She tried to kill the topic as fast as she could.

"It is a concern, Haley." Alex said seriously and took her muzzle gently in his hands, forcing her eyes to look into his. "I'm worried about you. I'm worried about what could happen to you."

"_I won't let a male near me."_ Haley promised, licking Alex's cheek, this time to comfort him. _"I have no interest in these males. I love you."_ This time as Alex's head hung, eyes disappearing from view, Haley saw something cross his face she hadn't seen before. Shame. True, shame.

His lips moved so slowly. "It's not the other males you should be worried about…" Haley retreated a bit, shocked at what he was implying. "It's me you have to be careful of."

"_I know you, Alex."_ She maintained, moving back closer again. "_You wouldn't…"_

"I don't know what I might and might not do." Alex interrupted, looking up again into Haley's worried gaze meeting his. "I'm changing. I don't know how I'm changing, or by how much I'm changing, but you have to know that I am, and I don't know what I'm going to feel as I change…" Haley didn't say anything as the two continued to stare each other down, so Alex continued. "You have to be careful around me from now on..."

Alex couldn't bear the moments passing after his last sentence. The sheer shame and guilt instilled in him, the thought that he could perhaps change at any minute and do something to Haley he would regret, it drove him crazy. He couldn't risk anything after that violent surge he felt under lost tower. He stood up quickly and walked back to camp, drowning in his own resentment of himself.

Haley's eyes watched keenly after him, quaking and trembling softly that he could even insist such a thing. a hatred in her heart burning for herself, a dreading, terrible hatred that she had brought this upon their relationship…

Samson hummed tunelessly to himself alone as he walked through the lab, fluorescent lights lighting up the darkness shining through the windows. He was alone.

In his hand he swirled a little test tube of blood, labelled with a complex number and two letters at the front. He stopped in front of a large machine in front of him and tilted the test tube slightly, removing the bung on top. He quickly brought up a syringe and drew a blood sample from the test tube, then replaced the bung. He then touched the needle on the edge of a dish on a face of the machine, and squirted the blood into it.

A few bulbs lit up as the machine set to work, processing the sample as Samson stepped back and observed.

A moment passed, one longer than it should have been, then the machine stopped, making an odd blinking noise.

"Huh… that's funny…" Samson bent forwards so his eye was level with a small screen on the side of the machine. He read it a few times, each reading spread the look of confusion he had. He cleared the machine, and repeated the process, thinking I was a minor technical glitch. Once again, the same result.

He grumbled to himself and reached for his cell phone in a pocket of his coat.

"This is… interesting…" The new scientist observed as he read the screen and its odd recordings.

"It did that the first time around." Samson explained, standing behind the newcomer. "So I put it through again with a new sample, and the same thing happened. There must be something wrong with the machine."

The newcomer shook his head and stood up. "This number…" He pointed to a number on the screen, stepping aside where Samson could read it too. The giant number that filled most of the screen. "I've seen it before, in Veilstone police department. That same number showed up on a scan. They thought the machine was buggered, but it was working fine."

"But surely," Samson began in protest, "to have such a high count of-"

"Samson." The newcomer butted in, face turning serious. "Whose blood is this?"

"Guy called himself Reggie." Samson said. "About yay high, red hair-"

"Red hair?" The newcomer butted in again. "Like ginger, or proper, blood red."

"Blood red." Samson said quickly. "His eyes too, were this funny brown, almost red…"

"The same guy." The newcomer looked at the ground briefly, then back up. "The same guy as they had in the police station."

"Who is he..?" Samson asked as he took another look at the screen, making sure for the tenth time his eyes weren't deceiving him.

"Alex Black." The other man answered. "Serial killer and arsonist."

Seriously, do people actually read this series? I doubt it sometimes…


	13. If you can't stand the heat

Chapter 13

If you can't stand the heat…

…pull your dick out of the toaster.

WARNING! LEMON (Sex)

If this offends you turn back now. Nothing much happens in this chapter short of the sex.

If you're under age, don't get caught.

Alex torched the campfire once more as he reached a hand into the centre, glowing ablaze. It seemed nowadays it was much more difficult for him to create fire. He had explained this to Merlin a while ago and had told him about the flock of Pidgeotto and the Rydon and the fighting types he had bested in that arena he was pushed into, and when he was in the tenements where he hunted down his father, and asked why he was unable to recreate that power now. Merlin's reply was long and full of complex expressions and difficult wording, but at the end of his rant he clarified, saying: "You start strong with a rush then your power lessens to a regular level. Then you have to build it back up to that rush level with training, then you will be at that level permanently."

Haley hung back a little, watching Alex's back as things shot around and back and forth in her mind, arguing with herself, her own resolve, and mostly, how much she cared for Alex. She was genuinely scared. Not of Alex, of what he had implied he might do to her, but rather what she was doing to him. For him to do that to her, her heat would have to have provoked him dearly, or he wouldn't even try. But scared of what he would do to her?

Haley huddled her legs close together with a slight shiver. Not an uncomfortable shiver, no, but a shudder rather. She wanted nothing more. She wanted him to be with her, as a proper mate in every way. She wanted him to love her. She wanted him to care for her… she wanted him to mate her, to press his body burning with warmth into hers, and to take her as a lover. Perhaps it was her heat, perhaps she was simply lusting after anybody she could, she didn't know. But she couldn't. It would destroy him to do that to her. **Unless I could convince him it was okay…** She shook her head quickly. **No… I can't. it's wrong, isn't it?** Isn't it?

She looked up at Alex's back as he spoke to Merlin, contemplating. Just because she had to be careful didn't mean she had to stay well away from him, did it?

She finally lifted herself off the ground and began her walk towards Alex as if nothing had changed. **I'll be careful. No problem.** She decided as she hopped onto the makeshift seat that was a toppled tree, beside Alex. Alex stopped talking and looked at her. He smiled as he saw her, and patted her head as he would usually.

"Nice of you to join us, Haley." He said with a scratch behind her ear, instantly putting all of Haley's fears to rest. He was fine. He turned back to Merlin as he resumed his speaking.

"The Celestic museum of ancient wonders." He repeated, holding a cigarette between two fingers. "There's something in there we need."

"What, so we're just going to rob a museum now?" Alex asked with more enthusiasm than a boy of his age should have shown at the prospect of robbing somewhere.

"Not… exactly…" Merlin said slowly.

"We're… _not_ stealing from a museum?"

"Well, it's hardly stealing if you're taking something that belongs to you, now is it?" Merlin hinted with a grin and a wink.

"Something of yours?" Alex stared curiously, wondering as to what this object could be.

"No Alex. It's yours." Alex stared blankly.

"I don't own anything in Celestic town."

"It's a birthright." Merlin said with just a subtle mysterious undertone. "Rightfully yours from when you were born, once your mother's."

"My mother..?" Alex repeated blankly. "You said she is in Celestic town…"

"Not exactly." Merlin admitted. "But close by. And don't worry, as soon as we have what we need from the museum we're going straight to her."

"Good." Alex stood up at that, grabbing his bag of possessions and hoisting it onto his shoulders. "then let's get going."

"It's dark." Merlin pointed out as if Alex couldn't tell by the all-consuming darkness they sat it, huddled in their hub of firelight. "Tomorrow will be soon enough, but why the rush?"

"I want to meet her." Alex dropped his pack back on the ground and dropped back onto the log with a thud. He hung his head as he dug back into the deeper side of himself he often held in reserve. "I'm feeling things now that I can't explain. I felt anger under the tower first, and that's what alerted me. I'm afraid." Alex looked up, staring through the wavering flames into Merlin's eyes with such intensity Merlin shuffled back away just a little. "I'm afraid of what I'm becoming. I'm afraid I'm becoming a monster… like him."

"Your father." Merlin made clear what everybody suspected.

"I need to know that my mother isn't a monster." He stated, sitting upright. "That my genes aren't a bubbling cesspool of hatred and cruelty, that I am not destined to become like him."

"_You're not a monster."_ Haley couldn't let Alex's comment pass without some kind of argument. She couldn't let him fall into the hole he was digging. _"You are something I've never known before, a true symbol of compassion and love, and I saw that when you asked Merlin to wipe the memories of all those Pokémon who suffered by your dad's hands."_ Alex slowly turned his head to Haley, a curious and gentle expression masking his anxiety. _"If the world was full of men even with a quarter as much heart as you, it would be ten times better without a doubt."_ Alex continued to stare; for once Haley was the one comforting him.

He made a jump for her, and before Haley could react his arms were thrown around her back, hugging her tightly and burying his head in her fur as she sat rigid in surprise. She heard his breath muffled by her fur, but long and slow, almost as if he were silently crying. "Thank you…" He whispered, drawing his head from Haley's fur just enough for her to hear him. "Thank you, Haley…"

Alex had contradicted himself already. Sleeping in his sleeping bag, arms wrapped around Haley as she fitted in there with him, snug and warm, he had ignored his own warning. But after what she said to him, he couldn't release her for a minute, like a child with their favourite toy.

But Haley, despite the one who had before been reckless, was cautious. She kept waking at intervals, just making sure Alex was still asleep. He was, arms wrapped around her torso and one resting on her foreleg, gently stroking as he slept. But part of her knew she was still being too reckless, for if Alex chose to grab her tight there and then and attempt her, she would be unable to break his hold. She knew he would wrap his arms around her and hold her tight, and have his way.

The whole situation played on in Haley's mind, against her best protests, but he heat was in control, and just wanted it to go on and on. She just shuddered, lay there and shuddered as she could do nothing to stop it. Her eye burst open, feeling something odd. **Oh, no…** Haley burst out of the sleeping bag and out of Alex's grip in a frantic hurry, waking him up in her commotion. Alex shook his head quickly as he sat bolt upright, and looked around quickly for what had just happened. First he saw the bush rustling behind him, then he remembered that Haley was sleeping with him. Then he picked up on something else, his sense of smell returning to him after all others.

"Huh..?" He turned left and raised his nose a little, sampling the air. At the first whiff, he had suspicions of what it was. He lifted the rim of his sleeping bag out a bit and put his nose to it. "Fuu_uuuck…"_ He moaned, falling over on his side as his strength disappeared. The smell assaulted him, clogging his nose and overwhelming him. His mind clouded with one thing, and one thing only.

Merlin jolted upright and was out of his sleeping bag in a flash, running for Alex as he writhed uncontrollably, scrabbling to get out of his sleeping bag. "Alex!" He stopped short just for a second as he neared, something faint but unmistakeable touching his nose. "Alex!" He shouted again as he dived on the boy, pinning his arms to the ground with considerably more force than a man of Merlin's build should have had at his disposal. Alex bucked underneath him and squirmed side-to-side, trying to break free. Merlin leaned his head to the side as a scalding breath escaped Alex's nose, singeing the hairs on his beard. "Dammit!" He removed one hand from Alex's arm, but before Alex could even move it, Merlin's fist struck him across the head.

Alex went still, ceasing his spasming. Merlin kept him pinned for just a little longer to be sure, then stood up again, rubbing his knuckles on his shirt and swearing.

"Haley!" He called, turning around and shouting again into the air: "Haley?"

"Nine?" A bush rustled a little, and Merlin turned to it.

"It's okay. He's out. Come out of there." The bush just rustled a little, as if the occupant couldn't decide on whether to remain or exit, but left the cover of foliage soon enough, her head hanging shamefully. "I'm not even going to ask what happened here." Merlin grumbled as he crossed his arms. "This isn't between us, this is between you and Alex."

"Nine…" Haley nodded guiltily. How could she not feel bad? Her stupid fantasising and her damn hormones were all to blame for this. She cursed herself for lacking the will to shake those images from her head.

Merlin knelt back down beside Alex and placed two fingers on his forehead. "Yeah, he's out." He stood back up again. "He said he was changing." Merlin reminded Haley. "His senses too, and his changing senses can't handle your scent properly. You have to keep yourself under control, or keep away from him. Do you know what would have happened if I didn't knock him out?" Haley's head shook miserably. "He would have come after you, that's what would have happened."

"Nine…" She apologised shamefully. She had seen Alex shaking, fighting, trying to break free of Merlin's grasp.

"He's going to feel bad when he wakes up." Merlin continued, glaring accusingly at Haley. "You're going to do and say everything you can to assure him it was your fault and not his, alright?" Haley nodded again. "Good." Merlin lumbered back for his sleeping bag with a short grumble, scratching his head and yawning. He shot Haley one last glance over his shoulder as she dragged herself back into the bush where she had been hiding and jumped away into the darkness.

Haley kept her distance for the night, shame acting as a powerful barrier and disallowing her to return to camp until well into the next morning, where everybody was awake. As soon as she emerged from the bushes, her heart almost leapt into her throat. Alex was staring right at her, right in the eyes. He was crouching in front of his bag, halfway through packing his sleeping bag in, but had stopped as Haley emerged.

"I sensed you coming." He said levelly, not letting up in his gaze. "I can sense where you are." Haley gulped and nodded, understanding the warning.

"_I'm sorry…"_

"No, I'm sorry-"

"_No Alex, I'm sorry."_ Haley didn't let him speak, and stepped just halfway out of the bush. _"It was all my fault. Everything. You did nothing wrong and I made an idiot of myself. It's all my damn hormones!"_

"Haley." Alex patted his knee, nodding. Haley drooped her head and walked to him slowly. "You're forgetting that I have hormones too, especially now. With great power comes great responsibility, and this is my responsibility as much as yours to keep a hold on myself." It was obvious to Haley this was one of those stalemate situations. The kind where neither party would let the other take all the fault and she decided this was about all she could hope for. "Haley, I need you to promise me something." Alex whispered as he leaned close to her ear. "If… I do come for you… you have to fight me off."

Haley sniffed and shook her head. "_I can't…"_

"You will." Alex said sternly. "Haley, you can't run because I will find you. You have to fight me off, get Merlin if you can, but if he isn't around you have to fight me off. It's the only way out of this situation."

"_No…"_ Haley shook her head defiantly. _"I'm not going to hurt you! There has to be another way!"_

"There isn't another way Haley…" Alex ran his hands along Haley's muzzle, stroking her fur lightly and comfortingly. Her ran one thumb from between her eyes, over her head and down her neck to her back, pressing his nail in a little and warming his hand. "I know you don't want to, but I want you to do it. For me. It's the only way."

Haley remained silent for a moment. Alex gave her time to reply, he was in no rush to stand up. _"It's not the only way."_ She whined. Alex's face remained still, expressionless as before. Haley placed a paw on his knee and gave him her best begging look. _"We could just do it…"_

"No." Alex brushed her paw from his knee and shook his head. "I'm not going to."

"_But why not?" _Haley begged, replacing her paw in her desperate plea. _"Alex, I love you! this is something two do when they are in love! Please… I want it…"_

"No, you don't Haley." Alex countered, his voice dropping to a much more soothing one as he stroked her further. "It's your hormones talking, not you. You don't know what you want at all, you're confused."

"_I'm not-"_

"I'm not subjecting you to that." He interrupted. "You've had enough in my dad's care to last you a lifetime, I'm not doing anything to remind you of that life. That life is over now." He ended the conversation there by standing up, cutting eye contact. "Merlin! You done yet?" He called as he walked for the centre of the camp, marked by the smouldering remains of last night's fire pit. "Merlin?" Alex spotted Merlin just around a bush, his legs sticking out behind it. He was lying down. "Are you done with your packing?" Merlin stirred at Alex's next call. His legs disappeared for a moment, then his torso rose above the bush.

"Sme?" He asked, walking around the bush.

"Are you done packing? I'm ready to go." Alex motioned to his backpack, sitting behind him next to Haley. Merlin looked at the backpack, then at Haley, then back at Alex.

"Smeargle." He shrugged, grinning sheepishly.

"Oh, no!" Alex facepalmed, turning around on one foot and swearing under his breath. "You're kidding me… he's gone somewhere, hasn't he Derrick?"

"Smeargle." Derrick, disguised as Merlin, nodded, then cleared his throat. "Alex, it's Merlin." Alex turned back around.

"Did you just-"

"If you're listening to this, then you're obviously awake before I thought. I figure you should be out for a while… heh, I hit you pretty hard… or so I like to think. Anyway, I'll be back around lunchtime. Just wait around nearby for when I arrive, because we'll be getting out of here fast once i do."

"How did you do that?" Alex demanded, stepping closer and glaring accusingly.

"How did you do that?" Alex jumped back as Derrick impersonated his voice perfectly.

"Oh… that Chadot thing?"

"That Chadot thing." Derrick replied with a nod. Alex stared at him for a few more seconds, like he would if he was unsure if somebody had gotten a haircut over the weekend or not, then turned away with a grunt and headed for his bag.

"I might let the girls off for a run." He said as he crouched and stuck a hand into a side pocket. "I've had them cooped up for a while, I'll let them cool off." He casually tossed all five pokéballs simultaneously, flicking them out underarm. With a mixed cry, calls blending together, all of Alex's Pokémon were free of their capsules. As soon as they were released, Alex spun and broke into a dead sprint for a tree next to the campfire, leaving the Pokémon looking around and quickly taking in their environment. He hit the side and ran up a few metres, then leapt up and grabbed a branch, then disappeared into the greenery before he was spotted.

"(Where's Alex?)" The Blaziken asked, approaching Haley as she looked around.

"(He's hiding.)" Haley replied bluntly.

"(Why?)"

"(So you all don't dogpile him and break every bone in his body.)" The Blaziken turned to look at Haley, staring unsurely. "(I'm serious.)"

The Gardevoir, who had been standing still the whole time with her eyes closed, snapped them open with a grin. Haley saw this and interrupted quickly. _"Don't…"_ She warned telepathically, halting her words in her mouth.

"_Don't what?"_ She replied innocently.

"_Fine then. Do it." _Haley shrugged. _"See how much there is left of him for you after you announce where he is and everyone charges him again."_ The Gardevoir stared at Haley a bit longer, contemplating what she just said. She nodded slowly, and then slipped away behind a tree while nobody was looking.

Alex sighed in frustration and fell backwards, landing roughly on his ass. He let his torso too fall back, and lay down in a burnt patch of grass. The grass around him was littered with scorched patches, flaky and crumbling in the wind. He was trying to do something, and he was not succeeding.

After releasing his Pokémon an hour ago he had managed to meet them one by one for his regular bone-crushing tackle/hug he would receive when they were released, but by visiting each he managed to regulate the pain.

Left to his own devices for the first time in quite a while, he had once again taken to setting things on fire. Really just lighting patches of grass, then putting them out shortly afterwards. He was tempted by that big, juicy looking bush just behind him, but knew better. He soon realised that lighting things on fire was something he did whenever he was away from Haley. Maybe he just always needed fire in some form or another, either Haley or just lighting things himself. But he had somewhat of a purpose doing this. He was experimenting with fire, watching it and observing carefully. He watched how it would flicker and fleet and disappear whenever a breeze blew past, or how the tongues of fire would reach up on first ignition then lower, watch how the flame would grow every time he put his hand near or in it, feel it on his skin… but there was one thing he couldn't managed to reconstruct. Something he had done once, but never since.

"_Heya Alex."_ Alex turned his head a little to the right, and was greeted by the great bgi smile of a Gardevoir.

"Hey Cynthia." He said with a grin and a little wave, then replaced his hand behind his head, staring at the clouds above.

"_What are we looking at?"_ She asked, placing herself beside him and lying down too, interlocking her fingers behind her head as Alex did.

"Clouds." Alex replied with a shrug. "I'm bored I guess."

"_Letting off some steam?"_ She asked as she observed a burnt patch on the ground.

"Yeah." Alex smiled a bit. "Letting off steam. Everything's becoming so weird these days, I just need a little time to let it all out." Cynthia smiled back and nodded, watching the clouds with him.

"_I never really got a chance to thank you properly."_ She carried on, crossing her legs with a sigh. _"You've done a lot for me over the years, you were the only one who was nice… the only one who didn't just want to use me and be gone."_

"Just doing the right thing." Alex said with a shrug. "That's all."

"_Well I just want to thank you."_ Alex tensed up just a little as he felt Cynthia's hand come to rest on his stomach. Cynthia rolled onto her side, facing Alex. _"We all do."_ The bushes around rustled as Cynthia snapped her fingers together. Alex sat bolt upright as the foliage parted all around him, and out came all his Pokémon save Haley, smirking hugely.

"What is this..?" Alex moved to stand, but Cynthia's hand pressed him back softly as the Pokémon moved around him. Cynthia rolled over, this time right over Alex and pressing him back into the ground, straddling him with a sly grin.

"_We want to thank you, Alex."_ She crooned, stroking his cheek in one hand and lowering her body onto his with the grace of… well, a Gardevoir. She rubbed her sleek, pale body into his paralyzed, sweating one with well-practiced movements, knowing just the right places to grind against and where to rub on. She leaned close to his ear. "_We may be limited in speech, but actions speak louder than words…"_ Alex's eyes clenched shut, his breath speeding up with the hardening in his underwear thanks to Cynthia's rubbing and contact. _"…and we've had a lot of practice at using actions…"_ Alex's mind blurred, rational thinking now thrown aside and body slave to his hormones, every inch of lust shut down and hidden away from last night breaking free and exploding into his mind at Cynthia's touch.

"Please…" he panted with what clear thought he had left as the other Pokémon surrounded him and set their paws and hands to work on him, rubbing along his arms and legs soothingly. "P-please stop…" He stammered.

"_But you like it…"_ Cynthia crooned in the voice of a lover, melting into him with her hands on his shoulders, her cheek resting on his and her mouth at his ear. Her tongue ran just along it, slathering it thinly in fluids. _"You like it, and we've craved it for so long…"_

"I-I can't…" He panted, fighting back the wave threatening to consume him. "I don't want t-to…"

He gasped sharply as Cynthia's hand gripped his wood through his pants. _"This says otherwise…"_ Cynthia replied calmly, her breath becoming husky with her own arousal. Alex could smell them all, their heats all upon them and held off until now. _"If you don't want, just resist. We will stop if you resist-"_

"I ca_aaan't!"_ He bawled, throwing his head back and yelling. Cynthia froze in shock, staring, listening closely as Alex's yell faded. He was crying. "I can't resist…" he sobbed, body going limp on the ground as the other four halted also. "Please… I can't resist… I can't… I want to but I can't… so please… just stop…"

Cynthia turned her head slowly, her body going rigid. The Blaziken whose claws had been dancing along Alex's arm sat still, legs crossed and staring at the ground. Her beak opened to say something, but she shut it again, and shook her head. She stood up without a glanc at Alex, turned, and began away.

Razier too shook her head as she stood, a tear forming in an eye. All around Cynthia, the others stood up, looks of shame crossing everybody's faces. They separated in total silence and skulked off into the bush in different directions. But Cynthia just lay there, totally immobile. The way Alex spoke shook her to her core, her strength just deserted her at his last words and guilt held her captive.

"Please… Cynthia…" She froze as Alex's hand landed on her cheek, incredibly hot. "I understand, but you have to run…" He begged breathlessly. "I can't… control myself…" Cynthia shot upright quickly, staggering backwards at Alex's confession. His head fell back on the ground with a groan, arms shaking slightly at his sides.

She looked left and right quickly, then back at Alex, face set in guilt still. _"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…"_ She turned left one more time with a gulp and broke into a sprint, eyes filling with tears at what she had just almost done.

"_Alex?"_ Haley called, trotting through the forest as her head swung left and right in her search. However awkward last night was, she was alone, and she wanted some company. _"Alex?"_ She called again, walking around a bush and almost missing Razier in front of her. _"Razier?"_

The Absol made no reply, just lay there facing away from Haley.

("Have you seen Alex?") Haley asked as he walked around to see her eyes. Razier turned away from her so she wouldn't meet her eyes.

("I'm sorry…")

("For what?")

Razier tossed her head towards the east briefly. ("He's that way…")

("Okaaaaay theeeeen…") Haley turned and headed in the direction Razier pointed to. **What's her deal?**

Alex's eyes snapped open as soon as Haley was within twenty metres if him. Her presence, her aura… her scent… it was unmistakable. "Go away!" He cried weakly, body still shaking but lying still as he struggled to get a hold of himself.

"_What? Why? What's wrong?"_ Haley asked. He could feel her coming closer.

"Haley! Run!"

"_Alex, what's the…"_ Haley raised her nose, sniffing a little. _"…Alex… what…" _She emerge daround the corner of the bush, nose in the air. She spotted him immediately and dashed to his side.

"Go!" Alex cried out, fists clenching as his back arched, a shiver coursing through his entire body.

"_What's wrong with you?"_ Haley ignored his warning, standing at his side with worry filling her ruby red eyes.

"i-I can't control myself…" He gritted his teeth with a growl, smacking his head against the ground in an attempt to knock himself out. "You have to run… get away from me before-"

"_I'm not going anywhere."_ Haley stamped the ground with one foot defiantly._ "I'm staying right h-"_

"Listen to me!" Alex shouted, banging his head on the ground with a half-whimper half-growl. "I said-"

"_No! You listen to me!"_ Haley barked. Alex's body ceased instantly as his eyes flew open in shock. _"You keep telling me all this bullshit!"_ She barked, circling him with eyes alight in fury. _"I keep telling you Alex! I love you! I fucking love you! Why can't you just say yes? Why? Please, I want it!"_

"You don't know what you want!" Alex shouted back, rage less than equal to Haley's.

"_No Alex, I do know what I want!"_ She shouted back. _"You don't know what YOU want! And the more you deny it the worse it will be, so just admit it!"_

Alex stare silently, lust briefly overwhelmed by shock and confusion. "I'm not going to do that to you." he maintained shakily. "I'm not going to do to you what all those men did!"

"_Then don't."_ Haley moved over his body, straddling him like Cynthia had and lying on him. _"They fucked me. They just fucked me and fucked me and they left me, I don't want you to just fuck me Alex…"_ She gave him a long, lavish lick right up his face, resting her paws on his shoulders, then nuzzled into his neck affectionately. _"I want you to make love to me."_ She said, swallowing her tongue and staring into Alex's eyes. _"My whole life I've thought that sex was an evil thing done by evil men just for their own pleasure, but I know you're not like that…"_ she gave him another lick. _"I want you to show me it's more than that. i want you to show me the love no man ever gave to me when they should have. I want you to show me that a man and woman can have sex if they love one another, and that they can both enjoy it. That it can mean something other than simple pleasure, that it is in fact, something intimate and loving… and if anybody can do that for me, it's you."_ Haley sat up on Alex and placed a paw on his heart, still holding him down with her stare. _"Now… will you do this for me?"_

Alex stared blankly with his mouth agape. He swallowed and looked away a little. Haley's heart sunk as his head shook. "I… I don't think I can say no after that." He looked back up with a smile, the warmest smile Haley had seen from him in a long time. "It would be my honour."

(SOMEWHAT WARNING! Lemon… (sex) if this shit offends you, bugger off and come back next chapter)

Haley smiled back, her tails beginning in their happy swishing side-to-side. _"Then let's get those clothes off."_ Alex dropped his head back on the ground with a grin.

"I can't move." He realised with a goofy smirk.

"_Huh…"_ Haley cocked her head. _"Make me do all the work will ya?"_ She backed up a bit and took hold of the bottom of his shirt in her jaws. She pulled it up to his shoulders awkwardly, then let go. _"You're going to need to help me with this…"_ Alex shrugged, and grabbed his shirt, then pulled it off with ease. Haley glared at him, eyes narrowing. _"Liar."_

"Chop-chop, Haley." Alex grinned, watching Haley as she lay on his chest.

"_Do I gotta?"_ She whined, nuzzling into his stomach and pawing at it.

"You don't have to…"

"_Fine, I'm doing it."_ Haley shuffled back to the his feet and did her best to grab the zipper of his fly in her teeth. She got it soon enough, and tugged it down, leaving a gap where she could see Alex's underwear. _"Mmmm… are we ready?"_ She teased as she tickled his shins with her tails.

Alex sighed, and gave a brief nod. "I still can't believe this is happening…" He murmured as Haley's head moved for his waistband. "I'm about to lose my virginity… to you… wow…"

"_I only wish I could say the same…"_ Haley tugged up and down on the waistband of Alex's underwear, and everything just changed from there on. Haley stared silently, recoiling a little. Alex, far from being embarrassed, crossed his arms.

"Well _sor-ry_ if I don't meet your expectations." He huffed, determined to make light of the situation. Haley smiled just a little, but shook her head.

"_Please… let's drop the funny stuff here."_

Alex's grin disappeared, and he nodded, sitting upright and taking Haley's muzzle in his hands. "As you wish." He placed one hand on the back of Haley's head and brought her to him for a kiss, both closing their eyes as their lips met to indulge in one another. They let their kiss last for as long as it needed to be, but Haley pulled away.

"_I want to go now."_ She whined, the mere sight of the shaft just inches from her dripping hindquarters wetting her thoroughly. Alex nodded, and lay back down, placing his hands just around Haley's forelegs and under her belly to hold her up as she shuffled forwards and lined herself up. She lay down on Alex, over his stomach as her hindquarters just pressed into the tip of his shaft, arousing a stifled grunt of pleasure. Behind her, seven of her tails raised high, the final two; the ones right on each end, wrapped around Alex's legs to hold them tightly. _"And… Alex?"_ She asked, licking a nipple with a grin, stirring another grunt as she lifted her rear up a little, dragging Alex's tip up with it since it still sat against her lips, soaking now and dribbling down his shaft. _"Don't forget to enjoy yourself, alright kid?"_

"What do you- AAaaaaaa_aaaaaaaaa…"_ Alex drawled off as Haley bit down on his shoulder and dropped herself on him, impaling herself on his throbbing cock with a loud moan into his skin. Her folds parted instantly under the force with which she thrust herself down with, engulfing Alex's cock in an amazing, incredible heat. Alex threw his arms around Haley's back and gripped her fur tightly, head falling back on the ground again as a moan rolled over his lips at the sensation of her vagina gripping him tightly and consuming him with its heat, it was wonderful. Haley remained still for a moment, adjusting to the feeling of that cock shoved deep between her legs that was all too familiar from her past. But those memories, those recollections, they all disappeared as she felt Alex's hand glide down her side and under her belly, stroking her softly. His body was hot, even hotter than hers, and she felt a new kind of warm, safety in his arms like this.

She lifted her rear once more as Alex's arm wrapped around her neck and his fingers played on her chin, and dropped herself again, this time moving her hips back as she did, sliding down his shaft and drawing another moan of unmatched pleasure. Alex thrust to meet her, much to her enjoyment as his cock buried itself even deeper inside her, hitting the squirming, stinging pain that was her heat.

Alex's hand under her chin pulled back. Haley tried to hang on, but Alex pulld her head off him, pulling her fangs from his skin. Before she could evcen take a breath he pressed his mouth back onto hers, holding her into him tightly all over, loving the feeling of her warm, bristly fur rubbing all over him. Alex pulled back, panting heavily and gasping for air.

"Wait…" Hale stopped at the top of her thrust, panting herself and shuddering.

"_W-w-what? W-why? Please… I w-want-"_

"We're not… doing this right…" Alex stammered, staring sincerely into Haley's eyes. "Th-this… this is affectionate sex…"

Haley nodded slowly, still quivering and shuddering needily, her heat beginning to really take off, but unable to be sated in this pause.

"We are fire types." Alex said, stroking Haley's chin. "We are not affection. We are passion. Passion for one another."

"_Wh-what then?"_ To answer Haley's question, Alex tightened his grip on Haley, and rolled over, reversing their position, suddenly with him on top on hands and knees over Haley below, legs spread wide and tails splayed across the ground under Alex's legs. He pressed his mouth into Haley's forcefully, taking her off guard, simultaneously falling into her and thrusting, sinking his cock into her even harder and deeper in their new position. As he drew back his mouth trailed down Haley's muzzle and neck, kissing her soft fur as his hands rubbed at her sides all over like humans would when making out, but even more energetic and touchy-feely, ruffling her coat all over. Haley yelped as he thrust again, lowering his body and thrusting at a shallower level, going into her rather than down, almost hilting himself in her soft lips. He could see them as he pulled out again, a little gold skin puffed from her fur, swollen with arousal and wet. He pressed Haley's head back with his own as he thrust again, kissing her under the chin as she howled in pleasure, her hind legs jerking spastically.

This was different entirely. Harder, stronger movements, bodies rubbing against one another, firing up at the core inside, shameless, passionate kisses all over in and touching and rubbing energetically in one giant fit of pleasure, heat and love. This wasn't mating. This was being a fire type, and mating.

Alex finally managed to get Haley's muzzle facing him to kiss her properly. He almost pressed her muzzle right into his mouth as he dropped all of his weigh tonto her with his next thrust, putting his whole body onto her and letting his heat share with her. the grass around them even lit up with his next thrust, Alex's mind throwing out heat unwittingly in his frenzy of love and lust. Unaware that either of them was actually, quite literally, ablaze, Alex plowed on, tongue sloppily slathering saliva all over Haley;s muzzle and head and neck, her imitating him as best as she could, their tongues meeting on occasion to swap fluids, then carrying on all over. Each flick and stroke of the tongue was an even hotter streak than what either was already experiencing, like the touch of lava streaming down the face. Everything was hot. Sweat poured off Alex by the bucket load as he kept up his relentless fucking, still maintaining his power and pace even as he felt he was thrusting into a toaster, but it was the best feeling, the sweat, the heat searing him, Haley's fur matted and sticky and messy with sweat and her fluids squelching from her lips with each thrust, fizzling and singeing the ground on contact. It was hot sex like no other, and it was amazing. That amazing feeling between Haley's legs, that hot, thick thing plunging into her and scalding her insides with pleasure with each touch, the hottest thing she had ever felt in her life deep inside her and radiating through her body, every nerve lighting on fire inside her and increasing the brilliant pleasure of each thrust slamming into her depths tenfold, it pushed her from halfway to fully over the edge several times over with Alex's last thrust. Her muzzle tore itself from Alex's mouth with her scream of pleasure and she sunk her teeth into Alex's shoulder again in her primal frenzy, clinging to him to keep her mind from shaking free of her body and shooting off as she convulsed, kicking with her legs as her tails constricted Alex's legs so tightly she cut his circulation.

Alex thrust into her one last time with an equal roar, slamming into the newly soaked and blazing hot confines, splashing burning hot liquids all over his skin as he came, biting into Haley's fur himself as he held her tightly and humping wildly. Haley's walls clenched down on him and smothered his cock, trapping their combined heat around him as ropes and ropes of thick, hot cum spurted into Haley's womb with each post-orgasmic thrust, both still riding it out.

Haley, with a womb full of cum hotter than molten rock radiating heat through her entire being, collapsed onto her back, finally drawing her teeth from Alex as her orgasm subsided. Alex fell forwards onto her heavily. They lay silently together after that, chests heaving in and out against one another, hearts still pounding extremely fast.

"_Alex…"_ Haley breathed huskily, still with her eyes closed after her orgasm. _"That was… something else…"_

"Did… I…" Alex took a long intake of air to fill his depleted lungs. "Did I show you? The love?"

Haley paused for a second, then nodded, licking Alex's cheek warmly. _"That was love, and something else."_ She gave him one especially long lick. _"That was total, complete, unmistakable adoration… that was passion like no other…"_ She gasped, falling back. Alex wrapped an arm around her neck and kissed it.

"Well I love, and I adore you with a passion." He said as he rolled over, bringing Haley back on top of him now, and smiling at her. "Thank you."

"_What was that?" _Haley asked suddenly, still panting. _"That thing… my eyes shut, I bit you and held on, it felt like my entire body was burning in every nerve and shaking wildly… like riding a great wave of pleasure… it was incredible."_

"Wait, an orgasm?" Alex demanded in shock.

"_What?" _Haley stared into his eyes, confused. _"THAT is an orgasm? I thought only men had those."_

"But what about…" Alex paused awkwardly, "all those men you… y'know? What about with them? You never-"

"_Never."_ Haley shook her head, then dropped it into Alex's neck. _"I've never had an orgasm… until now… until you…"_


	14. Cooldown period

Chapter 14

Cooldown period.

That thing that fucks you over in _every_ _time _in mass effect. Damn krogan…

"_Alex…"_ Haley's eyes narrowed sharply on Alex as he patted his waist idly, secretly biting his lip under the myriad of stares thrown at him by the surrounding Pokémon. Every pair of staring, piercing eyes screaming "I know what you did!" at the top of their metaphysical lungs like a million helium-stoned Jigglypuff. _"Why are they staring at us?"_ Her tone carried a little accusation, but subtly.

"Not sure." He lied, but held his demeanour strong. They all knew what he did.

Haley eventually decided she was having none of it. _"We had sex."_ The collective proximity of everyone around her recoiled with her sharp words, like they bit at their heels as her head, and ruby eyes stared and issued challenge to anyone unfortunate enough to be in her sights. _"Do we have a problem with this?"_

"(No…)"

"(Nuh…)"

"(It's fine.)"

"(Nnnn…)"

Haley's grin returned to her face, content with her answer as she swept the others once more. "_Anyone else wish to stake claim to my mate?"_ Alex's cleared his throat, his unease grew tenfold with every nervous glance he caught from his other Pokémon, as fleeting as they were for fear of Haley's "wrath". There was no challenge, and Haley turned back to him with a strangely triumphant grin.

"Did you have to… announce it like that?" Alex shrugged meekly, just keeping his voice between him and Haley at a low level.

"_I did."_ Haley took a few steps towards him, and sat just at his feet, tails brushing a faint nimbus of dust from the baked soil. _"They know we are mates, and I stake claim to you, so they know who you belong to."_

"Who I belong to?" Alex crossed his arms with a curious look at Haley, inviting her to evaluate.

"_You know what I mean."_ Haley grunted with a vulpine shrug. _"But they will not come after you."_

"Why would they?" Alex asked. He still hadn't shared the details with Haley of how he ended up lying on his back incapacitated in the forest and incredibly horny.

"_They feel it too."_ Haley sighed, her head hanging briefly with a pitying murmur. _"They feel what I feel: the lust-" _She lifted her head again, eyes gleaming sharply just for an instant._ "-For you. I can smell it. Their arousal, strong and thick, like a musk. They want you, but they won't come for you now."_ She cocked her head momentarily, and gave Alex a quick sniff.

"Is there a reason you're smelling my dick?" He asked somewhat casually, like it was a regular thing.

"_You feel it too."_ She withdrew, shaking her head quickly to rid herself of the scent. Alex smiled a bit as her long, furry mane raised a bit with her shaking, then fell back into uniform position, sleek and glossy as ever. _"You feel the lust too."_

"I'm only human." Alex shrugged. "I'm sixteen, I'm always horny to some extent."

"_Even right now?"_

"I wasn't inviting you, Haley." Alex added quickly after Haley gave him a curious and intent stare somewhere rather private. Seeing Haley's head droop a little, he added: "Well, unless you really want to… well, not like, every time you- it's…" Alex facepalmed, sighing deeply and collecting himself. "We can't just do it like Bunnearys every time we get a horny twitch."

"_Being mates is all about keeping one another happy."_ Alex raised an eyebrow, masking his shock behind what she was suggesting. _"It's my duty to attend to anything you need and keep you happy, so whenever you want to, you tell me, yes Halas?"_

"You do-" Alex paused as Haley's words caught up with him. "I'm sorry?"

"_I said: it's my duty-"_

"No, the last part." Alex sat down on the ground, crossing his legs in front of Haley. "What did you call me?"

"_Halas."_ Haley stretched the _"Hal"_ part heavily, dragging the "a". _"It is my name for you."_

"What, like a pet name?" Alex grinned a bit at the thought. Haley giving him a pet name. **Lol…**

"_Our relationship is stronger than others with you."_ She explained as she lay her head on Alex's lap, murring a little as he placed his hand on her neck, disregarding the underlying meaning of the primitive action. _"The policemen called you "Mr Black", others closer to you say "Alex", but I am closer so I have Halas, it is my name and my name alone for you, and only I may use it."_

"Oh… cool." Alex answered dumbly, unsure of the whole idea. "Does that mean I should give you a special name?"

"_Only when you feel you must."_ Haley placed a paw on Alex's chest and pushed him gently, and he fell onto his back, allowing her to climb onto him and lay on his stomach. _"When the time comes, a name will come to you. In a time of great sincerity. For now, I am Haley, and you are Alex."_

"I still don't understand." Alex shrugged apologetically.

"_You will when the time comes."_ Haley gave him a short lick on the cheek. _"Don't fret over it."_

"Okay…" His mind was frazzled now. Alex had never actually had a girlfriend, and the extent of his knowledge of girls only went as far as movies and television. This seemed remarkably similar to one of those situations where a girl gets a guy something as a gift, then says she doesn't want anything back. The guys gets her a gift, she might be annoyed about it since she didn't want one. He doesn't get her a gift, she feels upset and unloved. **Girls are so confusing.** He decided for the hundredth time in his life.

He set his attention on his other Pokémon to preoccupy his attention. Razier was lying beside a bush and chewing a particularly long blade of grass with a frustrated looking expression screwing her face up. Razor sharp fangs were clearly not made for chewing and biting grass, being flimsy and bendy.

Lassa, his Blaziken, lay back against a tree, legs crossed with one standing high over the other and staring at her own claw boredly, picking her claws with her other hand.

Beina, the Espeon was lying facing away from Alex near a tree, shuffling around uncomfortably.

Sattic was the name he gave to his Luxray, who he only now realised wasn't a member of the hunting party who set off to "thank" him. The closest to Alex, she lay facing him with one eye open and on him. She didn't look away as Alex met her gaze, in fact she seemed rather pleased to be noticed, her tail wagging a little.

And watching all of them: Cynthia of course. She stood against a tree and was the furthest away. Her head hung glumly and her arms and legs were crossed, like she was trying to keep to herself wholly and wallowing in her own guilt, no doubt.

Haley seemed to notice this, taking a seat at Alex's side now and watching Cynthia. "_Is there a reason she is acting so?"_

"I'll tell you later." Alex shrugged, speaking as quietly as possible so that perhaps Haley would forget to ask him and he could get away without sharing the tale.

"_Whatever."_ Haley sighed and lay down beside Alex, face-to-face with Sattic. _"Sattic, is it?"_

"(Ah. She sees me.)" Sattic nodded a little. "(Haley, was it?)"

"(You know my name well enough.)"

"(I do.)" Sattic nodded as Alex sat beside Haley, having nothing else to do. Sattic watched him as he crossed his legs, then turned her attention back to Haley. "(I can't help but wonder if it was just because you made the first move, or if you have something special.)"

Haley recoiled with an irritated grunt. "(I'm sorry?)"

"(You're with Alex.)" Sattic pointed out with a respective nod to Alex. "(I'm just interested in whether he would have fallen for one of us should you have not taken claim to him.)"

A slight growl slipped between Haley's teeth, alarming Alex at her seemingly unprovoked hostility. "Haley, what's wrong?" He placed a hand on her back and stroked her quickly to settle her.

"(If you have something to say, say it!)" She growled, almost taking a step forward if it weren't for Alex's hand holding her down.

"(I'm saying, I've known him for a while.)" Sattic countered sharply, baring her own fangs, but rather as a warning for Haley to keep back. "(He's a nice guy- we both know that, but he's still a boy, and boys do stupid things.)"

"(Like?)" Haley pressed between her gritted teeth.

"(Like grow attached to horny, overstimulated Pokémon in need of daily sex.)" She retorted calmly. Alex saw Haley's move just in time and managed to grab her tightly just as she pounced at Sattic.

"Haley!"

"(You bitch!)" Haley barked, grabbing the clearing's attention as she writhed in Alex's arms and struggled to break free. "(Take that back you bitch!)"

"(I'm sorry if I offended you.)" Haley's wriggling stopped immediately with that apology. It was so sincere it shocked her to the core.

"(What?)"

"(I wasn't directing that personally at you.)" Sattic explained as Alex gingerly released his hold on Haley, testing if she would go wild again. "(We both want the best for him, and if you are just hot and horny, do us all a favour and break it off right now or else you'll hurt him.)"

"(No.)" Haley shook her head, much more settled now as Alex took his arms back and let her sit unrestrained, but still watching her confusedly. "(I love him. I do- I genuinely love Alex, and I'm not going to break it off.)"

"(Good.)" Sattic raised a small grin, nodding to Haley. Haley caught it with a forgiving nod in return, clearing the air of any hostility, much to Alex's relief. That was a gesture even he understood. "(But I needed to be sure if you were right for him.)"

"(I am.)" Haley's stern gaze didn't shake. "(We are right for each other. We love, and that is the special bond between us. What we choose to do with our relationship is our business alone.)"

"(You're bonding with him)" Sattic explained with a sigh. "(He's really becoming attached to you, spiritually, mentally- and physically.)"

"(And this is a problem- how?)" Haley only felt a little awkward with Alex behind her, but she knew he couldn't understand so she could say what she wanted while all he could do was listen to their tone curiously.

"(Do you honestly think it's a good thing for him to be lusting after you with all of us around?)" Before Haley could rebut: "(Don't act like he isn't, Haley. He's a boy, boys are like this. They lust whenever they can. They don't always act on it, but they still lust, and all of us can smell it.)"

Haley's argument was not a good one, and it was already being argued by the subtle scent she could smell on Alex. It was true, he had been in a constant state of _some_ arousal at least ever since they mated a couple of hours ago, however minimal, and everybody appeared a little stirred by it.

"(I know.)" Haley sighed, conceding finally- something she _really _did not like doing, but if it was upsetting everyone else, she felt obliged to admit. "(But what would you have me do?)" She returned to the offensive. "(I won't break it off. I won't.)"

"(Of course not.)" Sattic agreed quickly. "(I wouldn't have you do anything, save realise what effect you two are having on the others. I simply impart knowledge; it is up to you to decide what to do with that knowledge.)"

Haley finally realised something in that. Something that had been bothering her the whole conversation. "(The effect I'm having on "the others"?)" She cocked her head, eyes narrowing on Sattic. "(And what about you?)"

"(Not me.)" She went quiet, head drooping and eyes falling closed.

"(You don't smell him?)"

"(I do.)" She said softly, nodding a little. "(But it doesn't…)" She drawled off into incomprehensible muttering. She shifted about a little, seeming to shrink as she pulled her legs in and huddled up a bit, then went silent.

"(Doesn't what?)" Haley pressed, suddenly confused.

"(Please…)" Sattic's voice shook a bit, dropping low and hoarse. "(Enough…)"

"(What are you talking about?)" Haley's head flicked bewilderedly and her eyes refocused on Sattic. Clearly she wasn't seeing something here…

"Whoah!" Alex leapt out of his sitting position and towards Sattic as her head dropped, hiding her eyes as she shook more violently. "Sattic… settle girl…" He crooned, falling to one knee beside Sattic and wrapping his arms around her neck. He bent down to her level and let his head hover next to hers as he stroked her, holding her fur in his grip to comfort her. "It's okay… you're here, in a forest, with me- Alex." Sattic's shaking didn't stop, and tears began streaming off her face as the rest of the Pokémon's stares turned to horror.

"_RAAAAAAAY!"_ She screamed, bucking suddenly and loosing a discharge into Alex. He shouted as the zap hit him, but held tight, clinging to her and swinging one leg over her back and pinning her down by straddling her back

"Sattic, It's Alex." He whispered calmly, despite Sattic's bucking and writhing under him and her painful screaming. "It's not real- you're with me. You're safe. They're gone and they're never coming back…" He leaned forwards and wrapped both arms around her neck as her shaking eased a bit. "You're with me, you're safe… it's not real… they aren't here, it's a flashback, what you're feeling isn't real…"

"(Wha-what is this…?)" Haley demanded shakily as she observed the whole thing, suddenly feeling sick at the translation of Sattic's screams.

"It's okay…" Alex continued to stroke her with one hand as his other trailed down Sattic's back behind him. The sole thing touching the ears was Sattic's quiet whimpering, still trembling and shaking. Everyone else's silence seemed to set solid on Alex's next move.

He slid his hand slowly over Sattic's rump, and under her tail. "It's Alex." He whispered as he did, stroking her neck slowly as his finger touched against her nethers, brushing softly. "Remember…? Alex…" Sattic stopped shaking, much to the surprise of everyone else. "Are you better?" He asked quietly, still stroking her most private of places with such tender care, one would swear he were caressing a baby. The sexuality of the act was wholly lost in the sudden calm descending upon the area.

"Lux." She sniffed, nodding as she tried to clench her eyes and cease her crying. Alex nodded slowly and removed his finger, returning it to Sattic's back and stroking her.

"We're back in the forest now?" He asked quietly.

"Luxray." She nodded stiffly, opening one eye a fraction to be sure that this place was real.

"_Alex… what was that?"_

"I know I took only the strongest…" He sighed, still attending to the scared Pokémon pinned under him. "But even the strongest have weaknesses." He lifted one hand, catching the attention of the others around. "Please- give us some time alone. I have to explain something and it's rather personal." The other Pokémon shared quick glances of concern, then collectively nodded. Alex waited for them all to head away into the bush, then turned to Haley. "Haley, can you use hypnosis?"

"_I can give it a shot."_ She shrugged.

"Great. Can you put Sattic to sleep?" Haley nodded sharply and walked around to the front of Sattic as Alex continued to stroke her .He rolled off her sideways, and rolled her onto her side next to him as he wrapped his arms around her. They lay together, almost like they were spooning. "Sattic, remember as you sleep. It's Alex… okay?" Sattic nodded weakly with a low grunt. "Go, Haley."

Sattic pried her eyes open as Haley lay in front of her, eyes alight with azure. Haley's tails behind her lit up with a similar light, and they began swaying slowly, like in a gentle breeze, back and forth mesmerizingly like a metronome.

"_Nine- nine_

_ nine nine nine nine-_

_nine_

_nine_

_nine_

_nine nine_

_nine_

_nine_

_nine."_

Alex shook his head sharply, snapping himself out of whatever was holding him briefly. Haley's words just seemed to hang everywhere, echoing from every direction, commanding the attention. **Whoah… that **_**was**_** hypnotizing.** He realised as he felt Sattic fall against him with a dying mewl, tumbling into sleep at his side.

"All right." Alex sighed, digging into his memories. "I need to know what you said to her so I can explain this best."

Haley ceased up a little, freezing on the spot. How much was she going to tell him? _"We were talking about… arousal through smell."_

"Arousal…" Alex's head fell behind Sattic's momentarily. Haley lay down in front of the two. "That might have done it." He petted Sattic, right from shoulder to tail in one long stroke. "You see, Sattic is… damaged." Alex shook his head slowly and sadly, almost tearing up himself. "I remember it was a Friday when I attended to her after she was raped. I was almost unable to do anything- the sight of her froze my blood."

"_That bad?"_ Haley gasped.

"That bad." Alex nodded. "Rough didn't even cover what they did to her. They used… objects on her. They fucked her with those objects… like sick, twisted toys."

Haley barely worked up the will to ask. _"Objects?"_ she gulped, psychic voice so quiet Alex almost didn't hear her.

"If you want me to tell you, I will." Haley managed a stiff nod, but a very little one. "Knives." Haley cringed as a shudder shook through her and up her spine, a horrid, sick image burned into her mind by that. "A baseball bat, fists, a Rydon used its horn, an electric prod, a sharp-"

"_Stop-"_ Haley shook sharply, biting her lip. "_Enough-"_

"To this day, I can't understand why…" He bit his lip as his hand froze on her back momentarily. "I spent sixteen hours on her." Alex petted her side a little more, somewhat warm that she was still with him. "She was so badly damaged, I swore she had died on at least six occasions- only for her to move again after a few minutes of painful silence. But I saved her…" He grinned a little, fingers running through her soft, lush fur. His lips barely moved- cold and still with his next whisper: "But I saved her…" He smiled a little as the thought warmed him. "But ever since her reproductive system has been mutilated. She's incapable of feeling arousal, and that's what gets her started on her flashbacks."

"_That's what she was doing?"_ Haley's mouth fell open. _"She was… reliving that moment?"_ To think that those were the noises of a Pokémon being raped with… those things, it grew a numb chill all over Haley's body. The image of Sattic's spasming and screaming was something forever burned into her mind, like a scar. It scarred her.

"She is a strange one." Alex sighed. "She's actually a powerful psychic. She gets visions more powerful than any psychic Pokémon I've ever seen, and sometimes she gets taken hold of by her flashbacks and needs somebody to convince her they're not real. That's why I touched her like I did, it helps her distinguish between her vision and what's real. Otherwise, if nothing reminds her of that one day, she's perfectly fine. Maybe there's something on her mind that's taking her back."

Haley nodded, guilt washing over her. _"I'm sorry… that I made that happen…"_

"Don't blame yourself." Alex said quietly "She's unstable today. Any of us could have set her off, it just happened to be you unfortunately." He sighed, stroking Sattic's back a bit slower with longer strokes. "Sometimes I think it was a bad idea bringing any of the girls with us… I should have just left it at you and i…"

Haley could feel Alex's pain at that comment. He went silent and closed his eyes, and she just felt the need to say something. _"I-"_ And she stopped. The others had done little, in reality. A few helped in that encounter with the legion, but other than that they had been of little use so far. Razier had returned to her ball after getting scared in the crypts, Sattic was breaking down in Alex's arms, they just weren't being productive. _"They aren't helping."_

"Yeah… I know." His vacant stare moved to a skimpy bush nearby, a piece of nothing to occupy his vision as he thought. No movements- no distractions. His mind took hold of that patch of forest and made it his own landscape to plot his thoughts undisturbed. "I thought…" He sighed, brushing aside his lies finally in his confusion. He couldn't lie to himself. "I wanted some friends."

"_So you brought them with you?"_

"It was selfish of me." He admitted after having left that for so long. "There would be little difference if I had left them. Sure, they helped with the legion guys- but short of that, where would I be without them? Same position as I am right now." He lied. If it weren't for them, he would still be a virgin, and Haley would still be horny. "And they're horny…"

Haley nodded slowly. At first it was just an idle reaction as she thought, but she soon grew to understand, nodding a little quicker. _"If you think so."_

"I do."

It was well past midday that Merlin returned. Nobody was really too worried, and between all eight of them- not two shits were given about his whereabouts. Alex was sitting against a tree at the time, surrounded. Haley curled up on his lap, Sattic on one side of him, now awake, and Razier on the other close to his leg- the others were about their idle business, whatever it was.

"So- Razier…"

"Absol?"

"How are you?" Alex made small talk in the stillness, just doing what he could to give the clearing a spark of life.

"Absol-Absol." Razier shrugged and patted his knee with one paw.

Alex sighed and banged his head against the tree behind him. "Right… cannot understand Pokémon… only Haley."

"Absol-Absol."

"_Razier says: "No shit.""_

"Thank you Haley for that-"

Cynthia moved. Normally the move would be insignificant, but seeing as she had been perfectly still for over an hour this drew Alex's attention. Her arms unfolded and she tilted her head back a bit, like she was sniffing the air. "Gardevoir. Gard-Gardevoir…"

Sattic took heed and visually swept the immediate area, eyes aglow with a golden light as her x-ray vision penetrated layers of bush and shrubbery around them.

"Luxray…" She murmured, slapping her tail gently on Haley's rump and drawing her attention.

"Ninetails?" Haley asked as she followed her stare, but could see nothing past all the foliage surrounding them.

"Luxray-Lux…" Sattic observed, standing up hastily. "Luxray-Luxray! Lux Luxray Lux!"

"_Merlin is coming…"_ Haley relayed to Alex as she climbed to her feet quickly. "_He's in a rush, grab your things!"_

"Everybody in! We're moving!" Alex pulled himself to his feet and scrabbled for the pokéballs on the ground beside him. He systematically picked them up and returned the corresponding occupant as they gathered around him, confused and looking all around with murmurs. Cynthia placed his pack before his feet just before Alex returned her, having brought it over to him from where it lay by her tree. "There." Alex thrust the balls into his pack and hoisted it onto his back by one shoulder, just as Merlin exploded through the bush just to the east.

"Everybody up!" He paused awkwardly as he noticed Alex, Haley and Derrick in Smeargle form were the only ones in the clearing.

"What's wrong?" Alex asked calmly as he walked to meet Merlin. "You try steal another car and got seen for once?"

Merlin's expression of shock tightened a little, fixing his stare on Alex who backed away quickly. "It's not funny."

"It's- kinda funny." Alex chuckled a little at Merlin's fury, totally undaunted by this point. "To think- I thought it would be me who stuffed something up."

"You did. Remember?" Alex's blank stare urged Merlin to go on. "In art class? You killed that dumb kid? You burned down an apartment building? You al-"

"Okay, okay, enough with the bitching- we have places to go!"

"This way." Merlin dashed for the opposite side of the clearing, and the others followed close behind.

"Where's the car?" Alex called as he caught up, holding the strap of his pack in one hand as it bounced against him.

"They're already looking for it- we need another one."

"Ooh. Two hijacks in one day. New record."

They ran for five minutes, straight through the centre of the park. Alex couldn't help but smile a little as they passed a patch of burned grass and singed soil where he and Haley had… done their thing just that morning.

They emerged at the edge of a dead-end street, a couple of houses on the opposite side from them and little-to-no activity all around. It was perfect.

"How about that one?" Alex pointed as he walked towards a sedan opposite them.

"What, with all these houses around? What do you propose, smash a window and set the alarm off? Everyone on the street will hear."

"Merlin Merlin Merlin…" Alex sighed as he proceeded dauntlessly towards the vehicle. "You have so little faith in me." He stopped at the side of the vehicle and scratched a little stubble on his chin, pondering his options. "Got it." He unfolded his arms and placed one hand gently against the driver window, palm flat. Merlin peeked over his shoulder with a face that was curiosity mixed with a little concern. One eyebrow raised as he watched the window around Alex's hand tinge a little orange, distorting the captured sunlight shining through. The smooth seamlessness of the pane squashed and shrivelled in a sickly mess of hues as it melted under the applied heat, liquefying and oozing around Alex's hand as he heated it. He removed his hand and observed it for a moment, curious of the sheen of glass covering his skin and seeping down his wrist. He reached through the hole melted through and pulled the lock. "Voila." He took the exterior handle and swung the door out towards him for Merlin with a flourish, flicking the molten glass from his fingers and palm as he did.

"_Ah, there is a brain behind this pretty face." _Haley flashed Alex a smug grin as she leapt into the doorway held open for her. She climbed into the back as Alex followed after her, scrambling in her wake with Merlin close behind.

"Excellent application of your powers." Merlin conceded and took his position in the driver's seat. It was an old enough car, simple enough for him to hotwire. He wasted no time and set to work as Alex and Haley made themselves comfortable in the back.

"Pretty face?" Alex ruffled the fur on her head with a content grunt.

"_Not the worst."_ Haley evalutated, not looking up. She gripped his trousers in her claws in a rhythm, clenching and unclenching as he played with her fur.

"Aaw, you're sweet."

Alex looked up as the engine rumbled to life, stirring the vehicle to life. Merlin released a breathy murmur of triumph and pulled his door shut. Alex wrapped his arms around Haley's neck as they took off promptly, before the vehicle's owner decided to emerge from heir house at an inconvenient time. He noticed his absence of a seat-belt once more. Sure, it was illegal, but legal meant little to him nowadays.

"Merlin?"

"Yes?"

"Will I ever go back?" Merlin glimpsed over his shoulder. That glimpse lasted a little longer than he had planned as he studied Alex's eyes. There was something else there… something else in his expression. He was serious… more serious than he had seen him before.

"Go back?"

"Will I ever live normally again? I mean, stealing cars… I've killed people… burnt places down… will I ever life a normal life now?"

"No." Merlin answered sharply as he pulled up at a traffic light. ""It won't be normal- then again you never did have it normal, did you?"

"No." He paused. "Sometimes I wish I did."

"It will be better." Merlin abandoned the steering wheel in the vehicle's idle state to lean over his seat a little and face Alex with a smile. "You'll make it better. Everything. You'll make the world a better place, I promise."

"You really think so?"

"_Of course."_ Haley lifted herself a little to lick at his chin a few times. _"I have no doubt you will make the world a better place."_

"It's your destiny." Merlin's grin softened a little as he watched Haley lick Alex's face, pulling a little grin out of him however hard he tried to maintain a serious expression. "From birth you were destined to bring peace- I know. It's all in your fate."

"A fate mind you, that nobody has bothered to mention to me." He added with a subtle accusation in undertone. Merlin twisted back into his seat and dropped back as the congestion began to flow again, fortunately for him allowing him to ignore Alex.

"_It'll be alright."_ Haley assured him as she settled back into his lap.

"I hope so, Haley." He whispered so quietly that Haley could barely even hear him, stroking her chin and lulling her into sleep in his lap. "I hope so…"

**Don't go anywhere- the answers are about to be revealed…**

…

**Okay, you can go actually. I'll be a little while with the next part- spread too thin… again. I'm terrible. Thanks for reading. ^^**

**Ajay out. **


	15. Inheritance

**Oh… I thought I had already posted this chapter (I finished it months ago)? I guess not - ! My bad…**

** And this is the big "revelation" one, too! The BIGGEST question will finally be answered…**

Chapter 15

Inheritance

They key to the door.

The soil of the nation.

The tongs of the forge.

The sound of creation.

Time flew past. Neither Alex nor Haley recorded just how long it was- they had Merlin driving to wherever it was they needed to go. The two rested in the back as comfortably as they could- splayed over the back seat. Alex lay on his back dozing, arm hanging awkwardly over the edge of the seat and hand resting on the floor. Haley lay on top, snuggled in close and lying on Alex's stomach as she slept. Merlin took a moment every fifteen or so to check them in his mirror in case of any more crazy dreams on Alex's part. He knew what Alex was- what he was capable of, and he had to be careful.

"Almost there, Alex…" He whispered to himself as he set his eyes back on the road ahead. "Very soon… then you will know everything…" His eyes showed no sign of fatigue. They remained as focussed and wide as they always did, but flickered all across the tarmac with his thoughts bouncing left right and centre.

"(You're seriously breaking into a museum?)" Merlin took a quick glance to the passenger seat where Derrick sat. He had thought he was asleep- clearly not so.

"We are." Merlin stressed the "we" in that sentence. Derrick grumbled in irritation and fell back against the back of his seat. "You know we need it."

"(I do not see why all the customs.)"

"Eiyvanaa's a stubborn one. I doubt she would emerge, even with her son's presence, without the customs."

"(All right, all right. So what's you plan? You can't just break into the place and rip the thing out of its case.)"

"I could…" Merlin reminded his partner darkly, "but it would draw unwanted attention. No- I have a much better idea… you see, I know a guy…"

"Haley…"

_"Mmm?"_ Haley grinned teasingly.

"Haley, if your tongue moves any lower I'm going to smack you." Alex waited calmly for Haley's response. He made no attempt to move- the back seat was surprisingly comfortable. Even Haley curled up on his stomach was a welcome weight- soft and fluffy.

"_It's okay. I like it rough."_

"Haley!" He laughed and slapped her side. "Not with Merlin around…" Merlin shot a brief glance eat the mention of his name, but went back to his driving. They were getting close anyway.

_"Merlin cannot hear anything I say."_ Haley returned Merlin's glance with a grin. _"I could say anything I want. I could chat you up using the dirtiest words known to both Pokémon and mankind and he wouldn't suspect a thing… and we know some filthy, __filthy__ words_._"_

"Arceus. Haley, what happened to you?" Alex laughed and ruffled her fur.

_"I had a good sleep."_ Haley sat upright on Alex's waist and threw her head sideways, billowing her mane out. _"I'm not sure why, but I just feel better."_

"Have a good sleep you two?" Merlin asked over his seat.

"Yep." Alex yawned and sat upright, pushing Haley into his lap. He wrapped his arms around her neck and stroked along her mane, provoking a content murr as she nuzzled his hand. "'Bout you?"

"Not for me, Alex." Merlin shook his head. Alex now realised that the vehicle was idle. Merlin was slumped tiredly in his seat, but was definitely wide awake. In the seat next to him, Alex caught glimpses of Derrick's paintbrush tail flicking idly around the edge of it. He used the seat behind him for balance and shuffled into an upright position, staring out the side windows and scanning his new environment.

"I'm starting to become excited about going to sleep." He decided with sudden glee, brightening up and lifting himself out of his usual morning slump. "Just so I can wake up again and be somewhere interesting- like here."

"Yes." Merlin agreed with a nod. "Celestic town is an odd little place. See all the buildings out there?"

"Yeah." Alex nodded as he took in a row of houses outside his window.

"Nothing modern. No big, glass skyscrapers, no huge metal buildings-"

"Wood and brick." Alex observed. Every building in sight seemed so out of place in today's world. "I've seen them before, though. We came here on a history trip once."

"Hah- you would have to stay a long time to truly appreciate the history that this place holds." Merlin unbuckled and stepped out of the car onto the tarmac- the tarmac seemed to be the most advanced structure in sight. Merlin yawned and stretched high, balling his fists over his head and arching his back to loosen himself. When he recomposed, he bore a sparkling grin on his lips. "Celestic town preserves the old way of life. Some call it trapped in the past- in all honesty it is, but it's trapped in a good past. An age, unfortunately, long passed elsewhere."

"The architecture's pretty shitty." Alex remarked as he exited the vehicle, solely to kill the mood. Merlin frowned.

_"So much wood…"_ Haley remarked in a daze as she followed, seemingly hypnotized by the scene.

"It's nice to see somebody can appreciate it." Merlin flashed Haley a smile over his shoulder.

Alex frowned now and directed Haley a slightly annoyed look. He stuck out his tongue, and followed it with a quiet murmur of: "_kiss-ass_."

"_Ooo- yes… I bet it would burn real pretty…"_ Her eyes glinted with a dangerous sparkle; Alex laughed and ruffled her fur. Merlin grumbled briefly, but was determined not to let it ruin his day; he locked the car as Derrick threw his door shut.

"So… a museum, huh?" Alex began as he followed after Merlin and derrick in a seemingly random direction.

"That's right."

"Any hidden, ancient crypts to dive into?" Alex asked. "You know- raiders of the lost ark or something. Giant underground temple full of Sevipers and Ariados? Fiendish traps and devilish devices to kill us in creative ways?"

"Huh. The closest thing to a fiendish trap you'll find is in the real estate market." Merlin mentioned. "No. No hidden tombs or mummies or booby-traps or serpents or arachnids."

"Ancient relics?"

"Of course. What do you think we're going to museum for?"

"Idunno." Alex shrugged. "I can't think of a smart-ass answer."

"I'll give you a clue: Ancient relics."

"Hey!" Alex snapped. "_I'm_ the smart-ass. Shut your face."

Celestic town was definitely an old place. Even the traffic and pedestrians seemed locked in a time warp in which old cars and dated outfits couldn't escape, and the influence of modern fashion couldn't get in. Alex felt remarkably out of place in jeans and t-shirt.

The townspeople were dressed in large and colourful outfits, and they all dragged packs of Pokémon behind them everywhere they went. They stopped on corners and chatted idly, indulging in current affairs and having a laugh about something or another. Small quaint stores lined the main street and cars trundled past at a relaxed, civil speed. Pedestrians crossed the road without a worry, and any incoming motorist would stop to let them pass.

Alex shook his head slowly as he waded through the crowds behind Merlin and Derrick. "It's so…" He didn't know how to explain it.

"Idyllic?" Merlin suggested as Alex rushed a few steps ahead to his side.

"Peaceful and quiet…" Alex countered Merlin's answer with his own. "A little _too_ quiet…" He let his eyes drift from person-to-person as they flustered about. Most of these people he examined were people of the female variety… even a pretty Lucario or two who took his fancy.

Haley turned her head quickly, and caught Alex staring at a well-endowed female Lucario dressed in a lacy vestment. _"That's hardly fair."_ Haley remarked as Alex jerked his head away and blushed – he had forgotten Haley for a second. _"Everyone gets breasts but me. How can I seduce you without?"_

Alex stifled a chuckle – but he knew Haley had caught him staring. "You don't need them." He assured her; petting her head. "You have the touch of an angel."

Haley smiled and rubbed against his hand. _"Now __**that **__was a remarkable save_." She purred. "_Very smooth…."_ Haley stopped short with a yelp as a woman rushed past. Her hand held the hem of her dress up at the front and she charged ahead very quickly. At first it seemed out of place in the quiet small-town commerce, but a quick look around revealed that the entire street was waking up.

Men rushed along the street to groups of others, spoke something excitedly, then charged off again. A quick glance about was shared in the group before they too charged off after the first man to wherever he was heading. Ladies flocked about points in the street and clucked energetically, before they too rushed off in the same direction of the men. In seconds the entire street – once a gently meandering stream – was a rush of movement in one direction, like a flood exploding downriver, or rapids surging and foaming down rocks.

"_What's this?"_ Haley shook her head briefly – closing her eyes and opening them. It happened so quickly it took a moment for her to realise what was going on.

"Something's ahead." Merlin stood on his toes to look over the flood of people and Pokémon, following their migratory movement as they funnelled into a street a hundred metres north.

"Why do I get the feeling they're all rushing to the Celestic museum of ancient wonders?" Alex wondered out-loud. "Something always has to happen…"

"If nothing happened, the chapter would be terribly short." Merlin reminded Alex tiresomely. "Don't you know anything?"

"Burn. Feed. Mate. Repeat." Alex smirked. "That's all I need to know." Haley chuckled a little as she heard this.

_"So let's set something on fire, get some food and see where that leads us."_

Alex smiled wider. The idea was suddenly much more appealing. "I like how you think."

"Not in public, you two." Merlin nudged Alex as he spoke disapprovingly. Merlin increased his gait before Alex could respond, and sped up in the direction of the people-flood.

The crowd seemed to have converged just around the corner ahead. Upon rounding the corner, the street ahead became invisible. The pavement was completely covered in people, all calling and shouting in confused madness at the structure up ahead.

"The museum…?" Alex asked as he came to a stop and stared up at it.

"The museum." Merlin nodded.

Rising up from the centre of the sea of humans and Pokémon, a mighty structure sat atop a lush green hill. Around the bottom a yellow police-tape rope separated the grounds and the hill, and kept the civilians at bay.

The museum was a block. Quite literally. It was shaped like a giant block, set with the occasional pillar and column. At the top, a stubby, hallowed bell-tower stuck from the front centre of the place.

The crowd all roared separately. Each individual cried and hollered differently at different times – though there were two words which occasionally rose up at the same time. The first was "Galactic". The second was "Team".

"So… team Galactic, huh?" Merlin grunted as he stared hard at the building. His lips twitched upwards at the edges as a low growl escaped his throat. "Let us handle this."

"What?" Alex tore his gaze from the building as shock struck his face. "_You?"_

"Team Galactic and I have a history." Merlin took a menacing step forwards as his fists clenched. "Let Derrick and I handle this one."

"Are you sure?"

"This is personal." Merlin raised his hand and snapped his fingers. On cue, Derrick nodded, and stepped forwards. Standing on one toe, he made a quick twirl. He seemed to spin so fast all shape and colour was lost. When he stopped again, he was significantly taller.

And yellower.

"Kazam!" He bellowed as he punched the air. "Alakazam!"

"Meet me back at the car in two hours." Merlin instructed as he knelt behind Derrick and wrapped his arms around his neck. "Teleport!"

"Wait! I-"

_Phwoom._

"- don't have money…" Alex's shoulders fell. "… for food… crap."

_"It'll be okay."_ Haley hushed him as she skulked around his leg, wrapping a tail around it as she rubbed past it. _"We'll find you something to burn, and then I think I have something for you to eat…"_

"Really?" Alex straightened up and raised an eyebrow. "Is that a sexual suggestion, or are we being literal? Coz I'm literally hungry…"

Haley blushed a little. "_Um…"_

"You were… referring to oral sex… weren't you?" Alex stared hard at her.

_"Um… yeeeeeeaaaaaah… I was actually…"_ She smiled nervously. _"Please?"_

"In what kind of crazy world do _girls_ beg _guys_ for sex?" He shook his head quickly. "No – don't tell me. This might be a dream, and I don't want to wake up…"

Haley's smile eased again, and she nodded with a relieved exhalation. _"Let's get us a little privacy, then? Shall we?"_

"Do you see them, Derrick?" Merlin asked. his words were mostly carried away by the wind roaring past, but Derrick nodded. They stood side-by-side and stared out over the great crowd converging at the foot of the museum. The museum upon which they stood.

"(I see them.)" Derrick replied. He took another step to the edge, where a shadowy, blurry viel separated them and the crowd, hiding them from sight. Like a light screen, but constructed of wavering tendrils of darkness. Like the flowing night trapped within glass.

"It's laughable how oblivious they are." Merlin strode to his side also, revelling in a moment of mirth with a shallow smile. "They all die soon… and they know nothing. They won't even realise how special these last moments are."

"(Won't they?)" Derrick curiously glanced up at Merlin. "(I thought your life flashes before your eyes as you die?)"

"It doesn't." Merlin shook his head grimly. "Their last moments will be like any others. Then, oblivion will be upon them suddenly – like the strike of a Seviper. One moment they will live, one moment they will be dead."

Merlin reached one gnarled hand into the pocket of his coat. When it returned, his fingers were curled around the trigger of a small handgun. He tossed the weapon onto the roof beside him as if it were nothing more than a pebble. "This is team Galactic we're dealing with." He said, explaining his actions. "They aren't like cultist thugs. Those idiots' Pokémon are ameture at best – but Team Galactic understands the value of well-trained Pokémon. Guns aren't going to be much use against any half-decent Pokémon."

"(So what's your plan?)" Derrick asked. Inside – he knew the answer, but he had been waiting for Merlin to say it for _so long_ now, and he held his breath in anticipation.

Merlin stepped away from the edge. The crowd was of no importance to him now. He faced the emergency roof exit door in the side of the belltower and placed his hands in his pockets.

"My plan is to show these fools our true power." Merlin smirked a little, chuckling quietly. "I think it's time we introduce the world to Darkrai."

"Bring that over here G11!" A loud voice called across the bustle and chaos.

Silver uniforms rushed about everywhere, like the inside of an ant nest. Boxes hauled left and right, glass exhibition cases cracked open and emptied, tablets and wall hangings removed and boxed – it was all being packed away. In the centre of the mess and directing it, a blue-haired woman stood atop two stackd boxes. She shouted orders across all the noise and pointed forcefully. With every second that passed she had to yell a little louder over the increasing volume. "G23 and G22! Get on the main entrance and get those Pokémon out! I don't want any cops within thirty metres of that door! G31! Join sigma squad and keep heat on the hostages!"

"Ma'am!"

"Yes ma'am!"

"Affirmative!"

The uniforms saluted briefly, then hurried to their allocated tasks. The woman sighed breathlessly, and collapsed onto a smaller crate behind her. "Sweet Arceus, this is insane…" She wiped her brow with one hand and snapped beads of sweat away. She glanced warily up again. Surely there was _some_ idiot doing something wrong.

Sure enough, she spotted a grunt carrying a small crate towards a pile in one corner. It wasn't the grunt or the crate which caught her attention, but rather a small red star painted on the side.

She shot out of her seat and leapt off her crate. "Whoa! Whoa!" She stormed towards the grunt as he turned to her, looking afraid. "What did I tell you!?" The woman barked. She grabbed the crate from his arms and yanked it away from him. "Red star…?" She pointed to the symbol, staring hard at the man. "I said "bring the red star crate to _me!_". Idiot!" She struck him across the face with a mutter, and paced quickly back to her crate in the centre. Grunts were so incompetent.

She placed the small crate atop the larger crate, then climbed onto the larger and took her seat again. "You better show up, Merlin…" She growled as she observed the crowd of workers. Everything was slowly deteriorating. Every second, the police were coming closer and closer to a way in. She had to get out before that happened.

She looked back to the workers once more, mulling over anything she could say to make it sound like she was still controlling things. In reality – she was stalling. She was keeping them convinced they were doing something until –

_Boom._

The movement ceased as a massive explosion rocked the museum, and every gaze swung upwards. A filthy glowing smog of dust wafted from the roof. Around the dust, rocks and debris tumbled to the floor below, landing on a crowd of hapless grunts who were unlucky enough to be standing below.

"The hell?" Was the first of many cries as the system collapsed in the confusion. The entire building was thrown into immediate chaos as the grunts dropped their cargo and grabbed hold of their pokéballs.

"The Police! Kill the hostages!" Another cried as he threw out a Magmar.

But it had started.

The confusion, the madness, the chaos – it just paused for a moment. Every grunt slowed to a stop, and they turned back to the streaming cloud of dust with confused murmurs. Nobody knew why – but their eyes were drawn to it somehow. Something just… brought them back to it.

They watched on, paralyzed by something unexplainable, and silent. The cloud of dust – which had previously glowed with the filtering sunlight – was growing dark. Something dark was growing within the cloud, and blotting the sun.

"What is that?" One call echoed endlessly – it's source being the only one daring enough to make a noise as the dark haze descended from the ceiling. It just didn't move like a cloud should. It didn't fan out and spread randomly. It moved on its own. It moved _towards _the centre of the museum.

The smoke at the front seemed to roll away and retreat, and something black emerged from within the shroud. Midnight black and barely distinguishable from the surrounding smog as it descended towards the woman in the centre. Within the smoke, two red orbs grew into existence, and shone through perplexingly.

It stepped forwards, and left its cloak of smoke to reveal itself to the world. The smoked seemed to converge and condense behind it, forming a billowing robe which clung to the thing's infernal shoulders.

All was in awe as it lifted its mighty arms, stretching them wide and streaming unholy black energy through them, flexing and testing its power.

_"Aaaaaaaah…"_ The chord was a melodious drone, deep from the thing's throat. It's twisted face broke into a smirk as it beheld the terrified crowd around it. _"Mortals…"_

Up above it – at the lip of the hole it had emerged from, a figure watched Darkrai announce his presence. He smiled faintly, and nodded.

At the edge of the hole – was Derrick.

"(Have fun, Merlin.)" Derrick chuckled. He sat on the edge of the hole, and watched everything unfold.

"M-Merlin…? The woman backed away a little. Her foot nearly stepped off the crate, but she caught herself with a gulp. It seemed to catch as a lump in her throat though, and she was left gagging for a moment.

"_I am no Merlin. Merlin is a façade…"_ The thing chuckled – low and cruel, spiked with twisted mirth.

"Flamethrower!" The trance had been broken.

Darkrai glided away effortlessly as a flash of fire spewed from the magmar. He growled and drew an arm back, forming a small sphere of black energy as he continued hovering across the crowd.

_"Insolence!"_ He roared, throwing the shadow ball forth. The accused trainer and Pokémon instinctively dived to the side, but they misjudged Darkrai's power. Their evades didn't throw them far enough away from the point of impact, and the explosion engulfed them. _"You will all die!"_ Darkrai roared as he floated higher, charging a shadow ball in each hand.

His flickering eyes swept across the ranks of Team Galactic grunts and Pokémon as they all lined up before him. In their eyes – he saw terror. They would fight, but they were afraid.

They would never win if they were afraid.

*eight minutes later*

The woman beat her chest as she choked on smoke, collapsed to her hands and knees. Her hand felt in front of her as she crawled through the thick smog, desperately reaching for something to tell her where she was in the mess.

Around her, smoke strangled the air. Fires fuelled the haze, feeding on the charring bodies of Team Galactic grunts and their Pokémon to throw up more and more ash and smoke. The entire place was blind – enclosed in smoke.

She touched something. Her other hand immediately flew out and grabbed hold of the thing, gripping and feeling it.

It was a leg.

She coughed. "M-Merlin?" She lifted her head weakly, and opened her eyes a fraction. The smoke stung them, so she closed them again.

"Yes." Merlin replied, breathing easily through the smoke.

"I-I got you what you wanted!" She choked out between fits of coughing and spluttering. Her eyes stung, her limbs were heavy, her throat was hot and dry, and becoming more so with each strangled gasp for precious oxygen. "W-why?"

"Because you are evil." Merlin said. He lifted his leg, and kicked it free of the woman's grip. He stepped over her, lifted his leg, and he stomped it down with all his strength. The woman's head split on impact. Her skull shattered under the colossal force and blood splattered everywhere. Even the concrete floor beneath her head cracked and smashed as Merlin's boot hit it, buckling his leather sole too.

He left the mangled corpse and strode towards the box he had identified as his. A small wooden thing with a red star on the side. He picked it up and glanced over his shoulder at the dead woman. "Into the inferno – you go." He said flatly. "Into the inferno – your friends go. Into the inferno – everyone will soon go." He strode towards the centre of the room where through the smoke, he saw Derrick in Alakazam form.

"Because they are all evil."

_"I could get used to thiiiiiiisssss…"_ Haley moaned. She arched her back right back and craned back her head and neck. _"Oh… that's so goooooood…"_

For a moment, Alex removed his face from Haley's nethers. He licked his lips with a cheery grin and nodded in response. "This was a great idea. A little private time…"

Private in a sense. If you could count "hidden on a bank underneath a traffic bridge" as private. Every time a car or truck passed overhead, the bridge rattled. Alex heard the noise – but Haley was a little preoccupied to notice. She had other things to focus on.

Alex reached a hand into the water reaching his bare shoulders, and splashed a little onto Haley's backside. The droplets immediately fizzled into vapour on contact with her swollen vulva – soft engorged with heat.

Her pussy dripped gradually into the river rising around her hindlegs and fizzed away. The running river reached only halfway up her legs, but that was still far up enough to excite the surface to a frothing bubbling. Though – Alex's naked body submerged to his shoulders probably did most of the heating.

Haley shuffled her forelegs a little to freshen her grip further up the bank, where they gripped the drier soil. She allowed her eyes to drift shut again as Alex's scalding tongue pushed back into her folds to lap up her receding orgasm.

_"Ooooh… You're so gooood…"_

"- To me." Alex withdrew again – still grinning. "_You're so good to me…"_

Haley smiled a little at him, picking up the tune. Avril Lavigne. _"oh-oh, oh-ooooooh, you're so, good to me…"_ She sung back. _"You make me so __**hot**__, you make me wanna __**drop**__, you're so ridicul__**ous**__, I can barely __**stop**__. I can hardly __**breathe**__, you make me wanna __**scream**__ –"_

"You're so fabulous." Alex cut in.

_"You're so good to meeee babeeeeeeey, babeeeeeeeey – you're so-"_

"- good to me."

Both Haley and Alex spun around at the surprise voice. Alex's hands quickly covered his groin as heat flushed his face. Haley spun around with a blush to hide her dripping pussy. "Oh… hey Merlin…" Alex smirked nervously. "Um… … …"

Merlin strode forwards with a chuckle. In his arms, he held a small wooden box, marked with a red star. "I got it."

"Oh… yeah…?" Alex called over his shoulder as he pulled his clothes on again. His body was hot enough that it naturally dried the moisture in a second, so replacing his clothes was no trouble. "What is it?"

"I'll show you in the car. Come on." Merlin motioned to Alex, and began up the bank quickly.

Alex clambered into his clothing even faster, then chased Merlin up the bank to road level. "What? Just tell me!"

"You can see for yourself." Merlin called back as he walked to the car. He had left it unlocked, so he simply pulled open the driver's door and jumped in. Alex clambered through the back door behind him, and closed it after Haley too clambered through. "We're off to the airport for a helicopter. We're heading for Mt coronet. That's where Eiyvanaa is."

"Give it to me!" Alex whined as Derrick hopped across Merlin's lap and onto the passenger seat. The one thing on his mind now, was the box.

"All right, all right." Merlin groaned. He lifted the small box from his lap, and handed it through the front seats to Alex. "

"Righteous." He smiled a little, and ran his fingers along the lid. It was an ornate box. About fourty centimetres long, twenty wide, and just under ten centimetres high. The wood was deep brown-red, highly polished and varnished. He flicked the buckles holding the thing's lid on, and eased it open carefully, knowing well it could break. Haley leaned over his shoulder as the excitement was too much to hold at bay.

"What the –" Alex took the thing and lifted it in his fingers.

"That is what we need to find your mother." Merlin told Alex as he pulled onto the road.

"But… what?" Alex shook his head in disbelief. "How is this… what is this anyway? A recorder?"

_"It's a flute."_ Haley observed.

"It is." Merlin nodded. "A flute. A pipe. This is what you need to find your mother."

"But… a flute?" Alex shook his head slowly. He couldn't understand how that made any sense.

But either way – it was definitely a mystical thing. It shone and shimmered in the run's rays – an almost clear, crystalline blue… blue like the sky… azure…

It was an azure flute.

** *Smirks.* **

** Read – review and so forth. Catch you guys around.**


	16. This story is dead Rebirth pending

Suddenly there was a big wormhole explosion and everyone got sucked into another dimension.

It was really cool.

Stuff happened.

**Don't worry about the above - i'm just trying to avoid fanfic's "no adding author's notes as chapters" rule via what i believe may or may not constitute as a loophole. Hopefully this won't be taken down because of this - i do this with the best of intentions.**

**So, this story's been sitting idle for a while now. Yep - dirty, nasty fact. I know there are people out there who read it and have enjoyed it - and to them, i say i can't thank you enough for your support. But alas, my motivation for this... has died...**

**... kinda...**

**I'm changing the message here - my apologies. I'm notorious for changing my mind. There MAY be a rewrite of this - but it's a large, daunting project, and i'm leaning towards doing something else now. A mystery dungeon type thing... kinda. A cross between a standard pokemon story and mystery dungeon. If i ever write it. it'll make sense quickly.**

Sorry if this got your hopes up for another chapter. It's not gonna come, guys... i'm sorry.

**Au revoir - ajay.**


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